The Head of the Crime Lab
by miss37
Summary: This is my Halloween installment this year. Hope you all like it. Mac and the team get into a case involving headless corpses with a strange suspect who rides a black horse in New York City. Who is the headless horseman? Is he a "ghost" from Mac's past? A faceless villain that Mac has forgotten about?
1. Chapter 1

Mac Taylor was walking through dark woods with his weapon drawn looking for a suspect. The suspect had run into these woods with the hopes of getting away, but Mac did not intend to let him do that. He suddenly heard what sounded like a whip and heard someone yell what sounded like a name. Just as he was about to go across the trail in front of him, he heard a horse galloping. He stopped to see where it was and it was coming down the trail. Mac stared with his mouth open as the horse galloped by. The horse was black and the rider was dressed in black and had a whip in his hand but did not look like he had a head but he was carrying a glowing jack-o-lantern in his arm which seemed to stare at Mac as it went by.

Mac swallowed hard, but he knew strange things happened this time of year. He rolled his eyes at himself. "Get a grip, Taylor," he said and went on looking for his suspect.

As Mac walked down the trail, he saw something lying to the side of the trail. He had his weapon ready. "N.Y.P.D.," he said. "Don't move." He walked over to the motionless form lying almost in the ditch. He lowered his weapon as he realized this person was not going anywhere. He knew that was the guy he had been chasing. He got his phone and called Don Flack and told him to bring the coroner. "We have another dead body."

"I'm on my way," Don said.

Mac squatted beside the headless body. He looked down the trail in the direction the "headless horseman" had gone. He shook his head at himself. "There's no such thing," he said. He thought maybe someone was trying to recreate the legend of the headless horseman.

Soon, Don arrived along with other officers and the coroner. Danny arrived as well. "Hey, Mac," Danny said.

Don and Danny looked at the corpse. "Ew," Don said and looked at Mac. "This is the guy you were chasing?"

"Yes," Mac said. "He's dressed the same."

"So what happened?" Danny asked.

Mac opened his mouth and started to say something but he did not want to sound ridiculous. "I don't know," he said. "I was chasing the guy and…" He scowled as he wondered if he really wanted to get that rumor started.

"And what?" Danny asked as he was taking pictures.

"Uhm, he ran out of those woods over there and I stopped there at the trail for a moment and…"

Don and Danny looked at Mac. They had never seen him stutter so much. "Well, spit it out, Mac, before you choke on it," Danny said.

Mac frowned. "I heard a galloping horse, so I stopped there at the trail and this black horse came by and went that way," he said pointing down the trail.

"Did you see who was riding it?" Don asked.

Mac scowled. "Yeah. He was dressed in black and…he was riding the horse."

Don looked at Danny. "I think he's leaving something out," Don said and looked at Mac.

"Okay," Mac said. "He had a jack-o-lantern under his arm."

Danny and Don both smiled with amused looks on their faces. "And?" Don asked.

"He didn't appear to have a head."

Danny snickered. "Are you saying you saw the headless horseman?" he asked.

Mac gave him a warning look. "No, I'm saying I saw someone ride down through here dressed like the headless horseman."

"Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do," Don said in the Twilight Zone theme.

"Shut up. I know what I saw."

"I think he's a little rattled," Danny remarked. He looked down at the corpse. "Well, this is a very real person whose head is missing." He looked at Mac. "Maybe someone is trying to recreate the legend."

"So what now?" Don asked. "Are headless corpses going to start popping up all over the city after someone sees a rider on a black horse go by?"

"Don't even go there," Danny said. He examined the neck of the corpse.

Mac squatted down there to look. "This had to be done fast," he said. "And it's a smooth cut."

"Not made by a whip."

Mac frowned. "Doesn't look like it."

Danny looked at Mac. "You sure he wasn't carrying something else?" he asked.

Mac shook his head. "I didn't see anything else."

"Did you hear anything besides the horse?"

Mac considered that. "I heard someone yell something but I'm not sure what they said. Sounded like a name."

Danny looked amused. "Somebody is trying to remake the headless horseman."

"They're doing a good job," Don said and pointed to horse tracks in the trail.

"I told you the horse was running down this trail," Mac said. "Did you think I made that up?"

"No sir."

Mac took pictures of the horse tracks and they followed them down the trail. They seemed to peter out at the end of the trail and disappeared. Don stared at the ground and nodded. "That was about what I expected," he said.

Mac looked at him. "There is no such thing as a headless horseman," he said.

"I didn't say there was. But somebody is making it look like there is."

Mac sighed. "There has to be some explanation," he said.

They walked back to the crime scene where Danny was finishing up. "Not much in the guy's pockets," he said. "I have his wallet. His name is Jeremy Black; twenty years old; New York driver's license."

"He was the suspect I was chasing in that murder of the nineteen year old girl," Mac said. "She was his girlfriend."

"Well, if he did it, I guess that case is closed."

"You think this was revenge?" Don asked.

"Could be," Mac said.

"So, what's with the headless horseman then?"

"A Halloween trick."  
"Well, whatever it is," Danny said. "The head is gone."

They went back to the precinct. Mac wrote out his report and then sat at his desk a moment. He could not forget what he had seen. He knew it had to be a Halloween trick but he had to figure out who was pulling it. He went into the lab to see what Danny had found.

"There wasn't much to go on," Danny said.

"We have to go and see what Sid found," Mac replied. "I want to know what kind of weapon was used." He remembered a time when a man had his head sliced off cleanly and the weapon had been a katana. "Could have been a sword."

"It would have to be something sharp, and another question is: where is the head?"

"First things first."

They went down to autopsy where Sid was still working on the autopsy. "Nice of you guys to drop in," Sid said.

"What do you think of our headless corpse?" Danny asked.

"I think he died of having his head cut off."

Mac walked over to the table. "It was clean and fast, wasn't it?" he asked.

"I would agree. The guy died instantly." Sid looked over his glasses at Mac. "Where is the head?"

"Good question. Whoever did this did it fast. It didn't take them more than a minute or two. I stood there at the edge of the trail as the horse went by."

"Horse?" Sid asked.

"Mac saw the headless horseman," Danny said.

Mac looked at him. "Now don't start that again," he said.

Danny smiled and looked at Sid. "The headless horseman rode by on a black horse with his jack-o-lantern head under his arm."

Sid looked amused. "It is almost Halloween," he said.

Mac looked at them both. "Are you two serious?" he asked.

Sid smiled as he looked at the body. "Whatever was used to do this was very sharp," he said. "It severed the head completely and it was a smooth cut."

"Something like a sword?"

"Could have been. I guess that is your job."

"I guess it is."

Mac and Danny left the morgue and went back up to the lab. "Let's go and get some sleep and we'll take this up again in the morning," Mac said.

"I don't mind that," Danny replied.

Mac went down to the parking garage where his Avalanche was parked. He was tired. He had been up for more than fifteen hours and he had to have some sleep. He drove home and got out in the parking garage there. Just as he was about to walk toward the elevator, he heard a horse galloping.

Mac was shocked. He looked up to see the same horse and man galloping by. This time there was a hideous evil laugh, and Mac could have sworn that jack-o-lantern had an expression like it was laughing. Mac stared as it went on by and out of the parking garage. He thought he would just keep that incident to himself, but he thought this was going to be a long Halloween season.


	2. Chapter 2

When Mac walked into the lab the next morning, he did not feel rested. He was still trying to figure out what he had seen the night before. Jo was there. When she saw Mac going to his office, she went down there. "Did I hear right?" she asked. "We have a headless horseman?"

Mac sat down at his desk. "Now, don't you start," he said.

"Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"About what?"

"About the headless horseman? It's a legend that this guy goes around looking for a new head. The victim's head was missing."

Mac looked at Jo and leaned on his desk. "Are you telling me that an educated, seasoned detective thinks there is a guy riding around out there on a horse looking for a new head for his headless body?" he asked. "Would you explain how he is living?"

Jo folded her arms and gave Mac one of her tolerant looks. "You just don't want to have any fun, do you?" she asked.

"Jo, that was a real murder out there. We can't sit here a play around."

"Why not? We'll be solving the murder anyway even if we pretend that there's a remote possibility."

"No."

Jo shook her head. "Party pooper." She turned to leave the office. "By the way," she said as she looked around at him. "I'm having a costume party on Halloween night. I want you to come."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You're one of my best friends. It's going to be an adult party. You don't have to worry about any underage drinking at this party."

"And just what would you suggest that my costume be?"

"I'll leave that up to you, but don't come as a detective."

Mac smiled and watched Jo walk to her office. He had thought just that, but maybe he would surprise everybody and get a real costume. It had been years since he did anything like that. Claire always loved that sort of thing and she would pick him out a costume every year to wear to a Halloween party. He thought he had dressed up as every villain there was and some superheroes too. He had drawn the line at Superman and Batman. He was not about to wear tights and skimpy stuff like that.

Mac leaned back in his chair and considered that. He had not thought of wearing a costume since Claire died. He usually had no fun at all, but maybe he would change that.

Danny and Don came in that morning still looking amused about the case. "I found out where Jeremy Black lived," Don said.

"So, let's get to his apartment and see if we can find out anything about who might have wanted to kill him," Mac said.

They headed for the elevator. "Maybe we should look at people who are acquainted with the first victim, Natalie Call," Danny suggested. "Maybe someone is angry about him killing her."

Just then, Don's phone rang. He looked at it and then looked at Mac and Danny as they were standing at the elevator. "Well, looks like we're going to another murder scene," he said.

Jo came around the corner. "Wow, this is getting to be a busy week," she said.

"You take Lindsey to that crime scene," Mac said. "We're going on to this apartment. And get Lovato to go with you."

Mac, Don and Danny went down to the Avalanche and Don went to his car and they headed for the apartment. When they got there, they found the apartment was very neat. "Well, he wasn't a slob," Don remarked.

"Why did he kill Natalie Call though?" Mac asked.

"I guess we'll never know since he's dead."

"How do we know he's really the one who did it?" Danny asked. "Maybe the same guy who killed him killed her too."

"That could be it too."

They began searching the apartment. They found a laptop and a desktop computer. Mac took pictures of the desktop which was still on and had a screensaver on the screen. Once he had the pictures, he touched the mouse and the screensaver disappeared. The computer was not on a website or anything, only the desktop was showing. He would have to call Adam to come and take care of the computers. He called him and then went on to look in the bedroom. Danny was there. "Find anything?" Mac asked.

"No," Danny replied. "Just some pictures of the girl and him, some of her alone. Something just doesn't add up, Mac."

"No, it doesn't. If the same person killed both of them, why didn't they kill them with the same method?"

"And usually if a guy is obsessed with a girl enough to kill her, he has more pictures of her than this."

Mac had to admit that it did not look like the room of someone who was obsessed or who killed someone. "But he ran," he said.

"Could have just been afraid. He knew we suspected him."

"But why would he run if he was not guilty."

"He was afraid of something. Maybe they knew something that they were not supposed to know."

"Like what?"

"Maybe those computers in there can tell us that."

Soon, Adam arrived and started working on the computers. "I assume you want emails," he said.

"Yes," Mac replied. "We have emails that were on Natalie Call's computer and now I want to know what Jeremy Black was talking about."

"Maybe he was talking about the headless horseman."

Mac frowned and looked at Adam who was trying to hold back a smiled. He glanced at Mac. "You too, huh?" Mac asked.

Adam could not hold in his laugh anymore. He looked at Mac and then cleared his throat. "It's not that funny, actually," he said.

"Really?" Mac asked.

"Not funny at all. I mean, how many times do you see the headless horseman in life?"

Mac gave him a tolerant look. "You just find what you can in these computers," he said.

Adam chuckled as Mac walked away. Mac went into the other room where Danny and Don were. "Did you two strow this all over the lab?" he asked.

"Strow what?" Don asked.

"You know what."

"Mac, it was bound to be known that you…saw the headless horseman."

"You two just thrive on gossip, don't you?" Mac asked.

"Gossip?" Danny asked. "This is not gossip. You actually saw someone dressed as the headless horseman."

Mac did not want to tell them about what he saw after he got home. "Just don't strow this all over the city. We have enough crazy stories going around this city."

"Yeah," Don agreed. "Somebody called in to the station the other night and said there was a werewolf in Central Park. Then some guy called and said that he saw a witch flying on a broomstick over the Empire State Building."

Danny snickered at that. Mac shook his head. "See? We don't need anymore stories flying around. That's all we need is for them to think a New York City detective saw the headless horseman."

"Well, as long as you don't see him again," Danny said.

Mac walked away from them. Danny and Don looked at each other. "You didn't see him again, did you?" Don asked.

"Who?" Mac asked.

"Mac, you know who we're talking about."

Mac went on into the living room and dusted for fingerprints. He took a few and then put them into the forensics kit. Adam finished with the computers and then packed them up. They went back to the lab and Mac began running the fingerprints. Of course, they found prints of the two victims and two other sets of prints which were unidentified.

Jo and Lindsey came into the lab. Jo stopped and looked at Mac. "You're going to want to see this," she said.

"See what?" Mac asked.

"This victim when we get these pictures developed."

Mac scowled as she headed for the photo lab. He entered the prints into evidence and then went to the weapons lab. He opened the cabinet of large weapons. He knew this weapon had to be something large and sharp to be able to slice someone's head off like the victim. Sheldon walked in just then. "You're about to do an experiment?" he asked.

Mac nodded. "I'm trying to figure out what could have made this cut and severed the victim's head so quickly," he said.

"I hear the victim's head is missing," Sheldon said.

"Yes it is. I suppose you also heard about the headless horseman."

Sheldon smiled. "I did."

Mac looked at him. "Not you too," he said as he was selecting a weapon from the closet.

"Hey, Mac, it's Halloween time. You know how things go this time of year."

"I sure do."

"I'm glad all of you are so amused at this." Mac took a sword from the cabinet and took it from the sheath. "It had to be something like this."

"You want me to sharpen it?" Sheldon asked.

"Go ahead." Mac gave him the sword and then looked in the cabinet again. "Some of these swords make different kinds of cuts."

"Every knife and sword is different."

Mac took another sword out while Sheldon was sharpening the other one. He started setting up the dummies. "This is going to be gruesome, isn't it?" Sheldon asked.

"Yes," Mac replied. "But like everyone keeps telling me, it is Halloween."

"Are we going to recreate one of those horror movies?"

"It might look like it by the time we get out of here."

When Sheldon had the swords sharpened to perfection, he and Mac put on a face shield and Mac got ready. "Well, here goes nothing," Mac said. He took one of the swords and started to strike the first dummy but then Jo walked in.

"Oh, my word," she said. "Wait."

Mac relaxed. Jo walked over to him and showed him the pictures of the victim. Mac scowled as he looked at them and then looked at Jo. "Another beheaded victim?" he asked.

"Yes," Jo said. "And the head is nowhere to be found."

"Then these two cases are connected."

"So, we have someone going around the city beheading people?" Sheldon asked.

"Looks like it," Mac said. He went back to his experiment.

Jo left the weapons lab. Mac got ready and sliced the head off the first dummy. The fake blood spewed everywhere and landed all over Mac and Sheldon. Mac looked at Sheldon. "Well, whoever did this must have some blood on them," he said.

"I would have to agree," Sheldon said.

Mac took the other sword and sliced the second head and got the same results. He walked over to the dummies and looked at the cuts. "Well, it could have been either of these," he said.

They looked at the pictures Sid had taken of the wounds. "I think it looks more like this one," Sheldon said. "It seems to be smoother."

Mac held up the sword which was a katana. "This sword is dangerous and anyone who knows how to use it is dangerous."

"And now we have another victim."

"This Halloween prank just became a Halloween murder."


	3. Chapter 3

Mac went into the lab. "Is this victim connected to the other victim in any way?" he asked.

"Adam is still trying to figure that out," Jo replied.

"These people were beheaded with a katana and whoever did it had to have a lot of blood on them."

Jo smiled as she looked at Mac's hair. "Talk about getting consumed with your work," she said.

Mac frowned. "You mean it's in my hair?"

"If you went out on the street like that, people would think you had murdered someone."

"Well, it just lets you know that this person who killed these people had to have some blood on them, and I can't believe that I'm the only one who saw that person riding a horse with no head."

"You're probably right but how many people do the police believe if they call in something like that?"

Mac considered that a moment. "Thanks."

Mac left the lab and went down to dispatch and the 911 call center. He asked them if they had any calls come in about a headless horseman. The director stared at Mac a moment. "Are you kidding?" he asked.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Mac asked. "Would I come all the way down here for a joke?"

The director swallowed hard. "No, sir."

Mac waited while they checked the records and asked the operators. He was surprised at how many crank calls came in over the wire every night. He knew they had them, but this was ridiculous. Everything from goblins to werewolves and vampires, ghosts and witches were reported. "No headless horsemen in this?" he asked.

"No," the director said. "Sorry."

Mac frowned. "Thanks."

Mac went out of there and thought a moment. He could not accept the fact that no one else had seen that horseman. Someone had to see him and just did not report it. He knew he had seen it. He was sure of that and he had the pictures of the hoof prints too. However, seeing that horseman did not tell him who killed those victims.

As Mac was walking back to the elevator to go back to the lab, Don Flack met him. "Mac, I was about to come and see you," he said.

"What have you found?" Mac asked.

"I questioned some people around the area where the latest victim was killed and one of them said they thought they heard a horse galloping that night."

"Did anyone see the horse?"

"No one that I talked to, and we cased that entire area around that victim and around the victim you found and the heads are not there. I'm lost on that one."

"Maybe the killer is keeping them."

"For what? Trophies?"

"Who knows what goes through the mind of a killer?"

"Mac, you realize if this guy kills one more person, we're going to have to classify this as a serial killer."

"Let's just not use that word loosely right now."

"We have yet to find any connection to the last victim and the previous victims."

Mac looked at the identity of the victim that Jo and Lindsey had found. This person was also twenty years old, and his name was Robert Knoles. "Whoever it is looks like they are targeting people in this age range," he pointed out.

"But he must know these people. You can't just walk down the street and say, 'hey, that person is twenty, I'm going to kill him or her'," Don said. "He has to have some way of knowing their ages."

Mac considered that. "Maybe he works somewhere that people have to give their ID's or maybe he knows these people." He looked at Don. "Find out if these people have any places in common."

"I'm on it."

Mac stood there and thought a moment. He wanted to figure out what the headless horseman had to do with this…although he thought he already knew. They were just trying to create a legend around the city at Halloween, but he was not even sure that the headless horseman had anything to do with the murder. However, that murder was done fast because he had not stood at the trail for long. He did not even hear the victim scream or anything. He supposed the guy might not have had time to scream.

Mac went back up to his office and Jo met him there. "Did you find out anything?" she asked.

"No one has reported a headless horseman," Mac said. "They've reported everything else but no headless horseman."

Jo smiled. "It's amazing what all goes on here. This city is just full of nuts."

Mac tried not to smile but he knew it was true. "Well, at least they are not all nuts."

"Jamie said that they got a call the other night about a bat flying around someone's house, and when they got there, there was sure enough a bat flying around in the person's house. They had to call animal control to come and get it. Then there was someone who called and said that Batman was standing on their lawn."

Mac raised his eyebrows. "Batman?"

"Yes, Batman. So, they went out there and there was some guy running through the neighborhood dressed like Batman. They didn't catch him."

Mac leaned on his hand. "That's the problem with these crazy calls that come in this time of year. You don't know which are real and which are pranks and it costs the city money to respond to those types of calls."

"That's not all. Somebody called and said they saw a witch flying around the Empire State Building."

"I heard that one."

Jo sat down on the couch. "So you think the three victims are connected?" she asked.

"They're all around the same age," Mac said. "There must be something."

"Maybe they know each other. We know that Jeremy Black and Natalie Call knew each other. Maybe they knew Robert Knoles too."

"Don is checking into that. He's going to find out if those three frequented any places where the murderer could have gotten their ages or anything."

"Or maybe he's a friend of theirs."

"And he just suddenly decided to start killing his friends?"

"You never know these days. Maybe they decided he was a nerd or a sadistic moron and they didn't want him in their group anymore."

Mac thought about that. "I guess that could be true," he said. "We just have to find out what kinds of emails Adam finds."

"What if there is a whole ring of friends who were going to have some sort of Halloween prank and the others backed out so he decided to prank them," Jo suggested.

"But how would he know that Jeremy Black was going to run through those woods?"

"Just too many questions."

Mac sat at his desk and wrote more on his report while he waited for Adam to finish with the analysis of the computers. As he was finishing, he looked up to see Don coming from one way and Adam coming from another way, and even Danny came out of the lab. Mac waited for them all to come in.

They all looked at each other. "So who's going first?" Danny asked.

"I will," Adam said. He showed Mac the results of his email analysis. "They were both receiving emails from some guy named werewolf25."

Mac stared at that a moment and then looked at Adam. "You got an IP address for this one?" he asked.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it."

Mac looked at the emails. "Doesn't look like they were talking anything about a Halloween hoax," he said.

"I didn't really find anything interesting in what they were saying except for they seemed to be planning to meet at a hangout for people under twenty-one, and they were also planning a Halloween party."

"Was it a costume party?"

Adam looked at the emails again. "Yes, they were going to have costumes. They were gonna have it at that hangout called the Cool Beast."

Mac scowled at that name. "Really?"

Adam smiled. "Yeah. Those are the words these days."

"Well, I guess I have to go to that place and see if they know anything about the headless horseman. When is this party supposed to be?"

Adam looked at the announcement. "Tonight," he said.

Mac thought a moment. "Well, I guess we're going to a costume party then."

"We?"

Mac looked at Adam. "Not you."

"Oh. Of course not. I mean, I…"

"Or maybe you should."

Adam looked surprised. "Me?"

"Yeah. You know the language of today."

Adam smiled. "Okay," he said.

Mac slapped him on the back. "Get a costume."

Adam left the office. Mac looked at Don and Danny who were looking amused. "Something funny?" Mac asked.

"I just can't imagine you and Adam at a costume party," Don said. "I would love to see that."

"You will, cause you're going too."

Danny snickered, but his smile faded as he looked at Mac. "Not me," he said.

"No, not you."

"Thanks."

Mac looked at Don. "So, what did you have to tell me?" he asked.

"Basically the same thing Adam said," Don replied. "I found that they had been at that club."

"Good." Mac looked at Danny. "What about you?"

"The unidentified prints that we found at all the victims' apartments were identical," Danny said. "So whoever this is is a friend in common."

"Maybe werewolf twenty-five," Mac said. "Adam is still trying to run down the IP address."

"Do I really have to go to that costume party?" Don asked.

"You should be a real trip at that party," Mac said.

"Trip?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. Isn't that the 'cool' thing to say?"

"You better let Adam do the talking. They'll know you're a fake. By the way, what are you going to dress like?"

"A detective."

"Aw, come on. You're not even going to blend in?"

"Not this time."

"So I don't have to wear a costume?" Don asked.

"No."

"You're taking the fun out of this whole thing," Danny declared.

"Hey, you've probably heard of Jo's party, right?" Mac asked.

"Sure. You going?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"Then I'm definitely going. I want to see you in a costume."

"Just get busy on your work."

Don and Danny turned to leave the office. "What time are we going down there tonight?" Don asked.

"About seven or eight," Mac said.

"We meeting here?"

"Of course."

Don and Danny left the office. "I can just see Mac dressed as Dracula," Don remarked.

"I don't know," Danny said. "I think you would look more like Dracula."

"What about you?"

"Lindsey and I will probably go as Bonnie and Clyde."

"Aw, you're kidding."

"What?"

"That's no costume."

"It is to me. I don't want to dress as Batman or anything like that. You know, when I was a kid, I dressed as Batman and Superman almost every year, and then there was once I had a Wolf Man mask."

"Well, you probably met me dressed as Darth Vader. I was always taller than everyone else."

"Hey, that's a good one for you."

"I am your father," Don said.

Danny snickered. "You better work on that."

"Funny."

Don went on to the elevator and Danny went into the lab. Mac sat down at his desk. He always felt silly dressing up like that but he thought he might overcome some of his shyness and do it anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, Mac, Don and Adam headed for the Cool Beast. Mac thought that was a ridiculous name but when he saw the place, he knew why it was called that. The front of the place looked like a giant wolf and the door went into its mouth. Mac thought it looked like some place at a carnival. He stood and stared at it a moment.

Don walked up beside Mac. "If the outside looks like this, what does the inside look like?" he asked.

Mac looked at him. "Only one way to find out."

They walked up to the door of the place and two bouncers stepped in their way. "No one goes in without a costume and no old geezers in there gaping at the girls," one of them said.

"Old geezers?" Don asked. "Hey, do I look like an old geezer to you?"

The bouncer looked at Mac. "Well, he does."

Mac absorbed that for a moment. "Excuse me," he said. "I am not an old geezer." He showed the man his badge. "This is my costume."

The bouncer unfolded his arms. "Sorry," he said. "We have a lot of trouble with older guys trying to get in here and pick up one of the girls."

"It's good to know they have such good bodyguards," Don said.

Mac showed them pictures of the victims. "You seen these kids here?"

"Sure," one of the bodyguards said. "They come here a lot."

"When was the last time you saw them?"

"About two nights ago."

Adam was enjoying the whole thing. He noticed they did not call him an old geezer. Mac looked at him with a withering look as they walked on into the place. "What are you smiling at?" Mac asked.

"Nothing," Adam said.

"Can you believe that?" Don asked. "Called 'me' and old geezer."

Mac looked at him. "What about me?"

"Well, you I can understand, but me?"

"Thanks a lot."

They walked down the short hallway to the main area of the "bar". Mac thought it was a mighty colorful party with all the costumes. He could see everything from Superman to Werewolves. "I feel so underdressed," Adam remarked.

"We're here to work," Mac reminded him. "Not to participate in this party. Let's split up and see what we can find out."

Mac walked over to the bar where the bartender was fixing drinks for people. He watched as the guy was mixing a drink. He poured the drink into a glass and slid it down the bar to the owner. He walked over to Mac. "What will you have?" he asked.

"Information," Mac said and showed him his badge.

"Hey, we only serve non-alcoholic drinks here. You can test them if you want."

"I'm not here about that." Mac laid pictures of the victims on the counter. "You know either of these people?"

"Sure." The guy looked at Mac. "Are they dead?"

Mac thought the guys face looked a little paler than before. "I'm sorry, but yes, they are. How did you know them?"

"They came in here all the time. As a matter of fact, they helped establish this place."

"You know why anyone would want to kill them?"

"No. They were friendly people."

Mac thought of what he wanted to ask next. "Do you have anyone around here dressed like…the headless horseman?"

"Not that I've seen."

"You seen anybody around here who doesn't usually come here or who rides a horse?"

The guy stared at Mac a moment. "No."

"Do you know who werewolf twenty-five is?"

"That's James Stafford. Why?"

"He was the common thread between those victims."

"Sure. He was one of the founders too."

"Have you seen him tonight?"

"No, I haven't."

"You sure?"

"Yes. He would definitely come to the bar if he was here."

"Had they argued or anything?" Mac asked.

"Are you thinking that James killed them?" the bartender asked. "That's crazy. He would never do that."

"You can't be sure of that."

"Yeah? Well, they came up with this bar as a way to keep young people out of trouble. We can have drinks here but they have no alcohol."

Mac nodded. "It's a noble project but it doesn't mean they didn't have disagreements."

"He wouldn't murder them. If James is not here, it's for some other reason than that."

Mac stared at the bartender a moment. "Thanks," he said and walked away. He thought that guy was very convinced of what he was saying.

Just then, Mac heard a horse whinnying very loudly outside. He turned and hurried to the door and got there just in time to see the same headless horseman out there. Mac stared at him a moment as Don and Adam came up beside him. Don's mouth dropped open.

The horseman laughed his evil laugh again. "Your head, Mac Taylor!" he said and rode away at a gallop as he laughed again.

Mac suddenly remembered that they should be trying to stop that guy. "Hey!" he yelled. "Stop!"

Don and Adam stared at Mac. "Did you hear what he said?" Adam said.

"What?" Mac asked.

"Did you hear what he said?"

"Yes, I heard him."

"Doesn't that bother you?" Don asked.

"Bother me?"

"He said he wants your head. As fast as this guy is beheading people, he could behead you before anyone could do anything about it."

Mac looked at him a moment. "Are we going to start worrying about that?" he asked.

"I would be worried if he said he was going to behead me," Don declared.

Adam swallowed hard. "I have to admit, I would be too," he said.

"Did you two find out anything?" Mac asked.

"Everybody seems to know the victims but they don't know where werewolf twenty-five is," Don said.

"Same here," Adam added.

"Yeah, that's what the bartender said," Mac said. "He did not seem to think that James Stafford would have killed them. He's the werewolf twenty-five. And he hasn't seen the headless horseman…until now."

"Somebody out there must know something," Don said.

"And I would like to know where James Stafford is now."

Mac, Don and Adam went back to the lab. Just as Mac was about to go into his office, his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac, I just got a call about another body," Don said.

"You're kidding."

"No, and it's out there close to where Jeremy Black was."

"I'll be there."

Mac got Danny from the lab and they headed for the crime scene. "So how was the Halloween party?" he asked.

"Boring," Mac replied. "Nobody knew anything."

"And now we have another dead body?"

"Yes."

"What are we going to do if this body is beheaded?"

"Let's not get the cart before the horse."

They went down to the crime scene and found that the victim was beheaded but he was also dressed in a Superman costume. Don walked over to Mac. "Looks like our missing werewolf twenty-five," he said as he showed Mac the ID.

Mac frowned as he looked at the driver's license. "Just exactly where did you find that on him?" Danny asked.

"Never mind that," Mac said. He looked at the victim and then at Don. "Where 'did' you find it?"

"He had a zip-up pocket on the inside of the cape," Don said.

"Oh."

Mac and Danny walked closer to the victim. "No sign of the head?" Mac asked.

"No," Don replied. "Someone called this in."

Mac looked at him. "Called it in? Did they say who they were?"

"No. It came in to the nine-one-one line and was made from a payphone."

"Could have been the killer himself," Danny pointed out.

"I've got someone out there getting fingerprints now."

Mac looked at the victim. "This is three people beheaded and one other murder." He looked at Don and Danny. "This is a serial killer now."

"You going to announce it like that?" Danny asked.

"Take the pictures. Let's keep this quiet for now."

Just then, another car drove up. Mac frowned as he realized it was the chief. Chief Sinclair walked over to him. "What have we got here, Taylor?" he asked.

"Another murder victim," Mac said. "What brings you out here?"

"Whispers about a serial killer, that's what."

Mac sighed. "Well, this is victim number four, and three of them were beheaded."

"You sure they were all killed by the same killer?"

"Likely. They were all killed the same way and after someone saw that headless horseman."

"Don't forget to tell him all of it," Don said.

Mac gave him a warning look. "What?" Sinclair asked.

"Nothing," Mac said.

Don looked at Mac and then Sinclair. "That guy said he was going to take Mac's head," he said.

Sinclair looked at Mac. "That true?" he asked.

"No," Mac said.

Don was incredulous. "Mac!"

"He didn't say he was going to take my head," Mac said. "He said 'your head, Mac Taylor' as he was riding away."

"Yeah, and we were down there at a bar investigating these murders."

"How did he know you were there?" Sinclair asked.

"I don't know," Mac said.

"How many times have you seen that guy?"

"Three."

"Three?" Don asked. "I only know of two."

"He rode through the parking garage at my apartment building," Mac said.

"Are you kidding me? And you didn't tell us about it?"

"Don, I didn't want to tell anyone that I was seeing the headless horseman."

"He's a suspect in this murder," Sinclair said.

"But no one else saw him until tonight," Mac replied.

"Just get this solved, Taylor. We don't want people thinking there's a headless horseman riding around New York taking people's heads."

"Isn't that just what it is?"

"Figure it out, Taylor."

Sinclair left. Mac looked at Don. "Hey, he needed to know what is going on," Don said.

"I don't pay much attention to threats," Mac said.

"You should pay attention to this one. That guy is carrying a sword."

Mac had to admit Don was right but he would not be scared or intimidated. He would just have to be careful.


	5. Chapter 5

**Please send me reviews. I would like to know what you think of this chapter. :D I hope you like it. miss37**

Mac and the others arrived back at the lab. He sat down at his desk and began writing more on his report. He leaned on his desk thinking about what to do next. He could not understand why that headless horseman was targeting these people. He could not believe that it was just to get his attention. He also wondered why only three of them were beheaded. Only the male victims were beheaded and the woman was just stabbed.

Mac leaned back in his chair as he thought. He knew the suspect was trying to make some sort of reference to the headless horseman. Maybe that was why only the men were beheaded. The headless horseman was a man, so he wanted to terrorize the city into thinking that he was looking for a particular male head. Mac thought about that threat the suspect had made toward him. He had no idea who it could be.

Mac opened the folder and looked at the files again. Three beheaded people but four dead. Mac wondered if the headless horseman killed that first victim and he wondered how that death tied to the death of the other three besides that they had all developed that bar together. But how did that tie to him? He had nothing to do with that and he did not know those people. He wondered if it was just because he was working on that case. That could have been in. Whoever was doing this knew he was working on the case of that girl's murder and then just killed those three to get attention. To get attention? To what? He also wondered how the headless horseman knew he would be chasing that suspect through that part of the forest in Central Park. Mac considered that a moment. He wondered if whoever the headless horseman was had been in contact with that suspect he was chasing.

Mac rubbed his face. This was too many questions for a detective to have unanswered. It was a confusing case. Just then, his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Hi, Detective Taylor," someone said in an evil voice.

Mac scowled. "Who is this?"

"You'll remember soon enough."

Mac heard the call end. He looked at his phone and his blood seemed to run cold as he saw a 333 on the phone call. His memory went back to Andy Bedford who had captured him and tried to kill him. He stood up and realized that three victims had been beheaded. He hurried from behind his desk and almost ran down to the computer lab. Jo saw Mac go by her office like he was on fire. She went after him.

Mac went into the computer lab. "Adam!" he exclaimed.

Adam was startled and jumped out of his chair and jerked the headphones off his head. "Boss," he said. "I was…"

"Never mind that. I need you to trace a call that just came to my phone."

Adam absorbed that a moment and then sat down and began typing. Jo came into the computer lab. "Mac, what is going on?" she asked. "I haven't seen you move that fast since I met you."

Mac looked at her. "I think I might know who our headless horseman is," he said.

"Who?" Jo asked.

"I have to get Don to find out about any prison breaks or escapes from the mental ward or releases," he said.

Mac turned and left the computer lab. He did not have to explain it to Jo right now. She did not know anything about the 333 stalker. If it was confirmed, he would tell her about it then.

Jo looked at Adam. "Do you know what he's talking about?" she asked.

Adam shook his head. "All I know is he wanted me to trace that call he just got to his cell phone," he said.

Jo looked at the computer screen and watched as the location came up. Her mouth dropped open and Adam looked at her. "Isn't that the same payphone that the call came in from about the murder in the Park?" he asked.

"It is," Jo replied.

"That can't be a coincidence, can it?"

"I don't think so, Adam, and I intend to find out what Mac knows."

Mac arrived at the precinct and went to Don's desk. "Don, I need you to do something," he said, hurriedly.

"What's going on?" Don asked.

"Don, I think an old enemy has emerged somehow."

"Who?"

"Find out if there have been any prison breaks or breaks from the mental ward, or releases."

Don stared at him a moment. "I haven't heard about anything, but I will check," he said. "Anything in particular I should look for?"

Mac stared at the floor a moment and then looked at Don. "I think the three-three-three stalker is back," he said.

Don's mouth dropped open slightly. "Why?" he asked.

"I just got a phone call a few minutes ago." Mac showed the call ID to Don.

Don frowned. "That maniac can't be out. He's supposed to be in for life."

"He's a charmer, Don. He could have gotten an early release."

Don shook his head. "That can't be it, Mac."

"Just check, Don."

Don got on the phone and got into his computer and searched for anything he could find. He was shocked to find that there had been a break at the mental ward at the prison where Bedford was sent and it was Bedford who had escaped. He could not believe that they had not informed them of this. He headed for the elevator because Mac had gone back up to the lab…he assumed.

Don walked into the lab, but Mac was not in his office. He went to Jo's office. "Hey, where's Mac?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jo replied. "The last time I saw him, he was coming to see you."

"I just found out the information that Mac requested. He was right, Jo."

"Right about what? He didn't tell me anything."

"Has he ever told you about the three-three-three stalker?" Don asked.

"No," Jo replied. "Who is that?"

Don explained the situation to Jo. "You're kidding," she said. "Mac has never told me about that."

"It was something he wanted to forget," Don said.

"Adam found that the phone call to Mac's cell phone was made from the same payphone where the call about the murder was made."

"This is all connected. He knew Mac was working on this case. That's why he beheaded only three victims." Don shook his head. "This is some bizarre plan of his to get to Mac. He must have beheaded those three just to get Mac's attention so he could ride by as the headless horseman."

"But, Don, the way Mac looked, you would have thought he really saw the headless horseman."

"I saw him, Jo. It was pretty spooky. I could have sworn the mouth on that jack-o-lantern was moving."

"Don Flack, a seasoned detective."

"Hey, don't look at me like that." Don looked around them. "We need to find Mac. Where did he go?"

"He was coming to see you."

"He did but I assumed that he was coming back up here."

They started toward the elevator, but as they were walking that way, Mac came from the elevator. "Mac, we have some news to tell you," Don said. "Where you been?"

"Just tell me," Mac said.

"You were right. Andy Bedford escaped from the mental ward. Somehow he posed as one of the nurses there and he got out."

Mac shook his head. "How could he do that?"

"I don't know, but he did."

"Mac, the phone call to your cell phone came from the same payphone that the call about the murder did," Jo said.

Mac frowned. "Yes, and I just found out that the number for that payphone is number thirty-three."

Don stared at Mac a moment. "What do you want us to do, Mac?"

"We'll just have to wait and see what his intentions are. You know how he was the last time. He won't be seen till he's ready."

"We have to get an APB out on him and get his picture out around the city."

Mac looked at Don. "As what? The headless horseman?"

"Mac, he can't be wearing that all the time."

"Don, he knows that he doesn't want to be seen right now. He probably keeps himself disguised or hidden until he does that."

"Mac, you can't just be a target."

"I have been before, Don."

"Why can't you stay with someone?" Jo suggested. "Or someone can stay with you."

"No," Mac said flatly. "I am not going to hide from him."

"Mac, you can't let this guy get you. There's no telling what he might do."

Mac thought about that. "There's no other way to catch him, Don," he said. "He's dangerous to this city while he's out there. There's no telling what he might do out there. He could kill more people."

"Riding around as the headless horseman?" Don asked. "Why is he dressed like that?"

"Because it's Halloween."

"It must have some significance to this," Jo said. "And what is he doing with those heads?"

Mac shook his head. He was not sure he wanted to know the answer to that. "All we can do is wait," he said.


	6. Chapter 6

Mac suddenly woke up as he heard his phone ringing. He sat straight up and realized he was in his bed. He rubbed his face and then he got his phone off the nightstand. "Taylor," he answered.

"Morning, Detective Taylor," someone whispered. "Have you figured it out yet?"

Mac was suddenly awake. He looked at the clock which said 3:33. "Bedford," he said angrily. "Why don't you stop this game?"

"I'm having too much fun, Mac. I like to see you confused and wondering what's going to happen next. Wasn't that how you felt the night my brother was killed?"

Mac frowned. "Don't bring that up again, Andy. You need to stop this now!"

"Have a good night."

Mac looked at his phone as the call ended. The same 333 was on the phone. He rubbed his eyes. He could remember how he cringed for the longest time every time he saw a three. He had finally gotten over that and now, here it was starting again. He wished he could disappear sometimes.

Mac got out of bed and went to the door of his apartment to make sure the door was locked. He leaned on the door and realized he was letting that guy get to him. He turned off all the lights and closed the blinds. He would not let that maniac see into his apartment. How did he know whether he had been here or not and planted some sort of camera? He got his phone and called Adam. He did not care what time of night it was.

"Hello," Adam said sleepily.

"Adam," Mac said.

"Boss?"

"Yes. I need you to come to my apartment as soon as you can get here and scan it for bugs or cameras."

Adam absorbed that through his sleepy brain. "Now?"

"Yes, now. Why would I call you if I wanted it done in the morning?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be there right away."

"Okay."

Mac ended the call and paced back and forth for a moment. He realized he was demanding that Adam do something that did not even have anything to do with the lab. It was something personal. He sighed and started to call him back and tell him to wait till morning, but he wanted to know now.

Adam soon arrived with his equipment. "Sorry it took so long," he said. "I was sleeping."

"I'm sorry for being so demanding, Adam. I just want to make sure that guy hasn't been in my apartment," Mac said.

"It's alright."

"You can come in late in the morning so you can make up the sleep you're losing."

"Thanks."

Adam scanned the apartment but he did not find a camera. However, he found a bug but it was in Mac's suit jacket pocket that he had been wearing the day before. Mac stared at it a moment. "How did it get in there?" he asked as he took the bug.

"Did anyone bump into you or anything?" Adam asked.

Mac thought a moment. "We meet so many people in a day, I…" He shook his head. "I don't know." He looked at Adam. "Check my office in the morning. I'm going to get the locks changed on this apartment."

Adam looked at Mac. "You're nervous, huh?"

Mac frowned. He did not like to admit that he was nervous, but he was. He had no idea what Andy would try to do this time. "Yeah, I am," he admitted finally. "You remember the last time we tangled with this guy."

"Yeah, I had to put that puzzle together and none of the pieces fit, and there were those little pieces with the…"

"Adam."

"I'm sorry. I still hate puzzles."

"He's beheaded three people and he called me tonight at three-thirty-three. He's planning something."

Just then, Mac's phone rang again. "Taylor," he answered when he was sure it was not Bedford calling again.

"Mac, someone just reported seeing the headless horseman," Don said. "He was galloping down the Boardwalk and holding that jack-o-lantern over his head."

"Did anyone find another body?"

"Not that I've heard about, but he's making himself seen."

"It's just part of his game, Don."

"He thinks he's invincible."

"No, I think he will try to kill me and if he succeeds, he will kill himself."

Don thought about that a moment. "You really think so?" he asked.

"Just a feeling I have," Mac said. "He was in that mental hospital a long time and he hasn't changed at all, and might be even worse."

"You think we should go over there and see who his therapist was?"

"Get a warrant for that place. We'll have to have one to go there. They won't tell us anything without a warrant and might not then."

"I'll get one. You be careful, Mac."

"I will."

Mac put his phone away. Adam was packing up his equipment. "Do you want me to go on to your office now and scan it?" he asked.

"No," Mac said. "In the morning will be soon enough. Thanks, Adam."

Adam picked up his case and looked at Mac. "I'm sorry about all this, Mac. I hope we can get this guy again and for good."

"Thanks."

Adam turned and left. Mac made sure the door was locked and then went back to his bedroom. He was so tired. He got back into the bed and laid his phone on the nightstand. He lay there with his eyes open a few moments thinking of what they would do next. He hoped they could find something valuable when they went to that hospital. Hopefully, he would have made some reference to the headless horseman or something.

The next morning, Mac was tired when he got up from that loss of sleep. He yawned as he went into the bathroom. The shower did not even do much to make him feel more alert. He got dressed and went into the kitchen. He did not want to make coffee this morning. He would just go out to eat and get some coffee there. He went down to the lobby and stopped at the elevator to the parking garage. He was not sure he wanted to go out there. He shook his head. He could not go through life being afraid. He took his weapon out of the holster. If that guy came near him, he would shoot him and ask questions later.

Mac got in the elevator and looked up at the ceiling to make sure there were no wires or anything. He could not help but remember when they found that woman baked in that elevator. He went on into the elevator and went down to the garage with his weapon ready in his hand. He made sure there was a bullet in the chamber too. The elevator doors opened and Mac was startled that there was a woman standing there. She gasped when she saw Mac with the gun. He relaxed. "I'm sorry," he said.

"What are you doing?" the woman asked.

Mac showed her his badge. "I'm looking for someone. Have you seen anyone out here?"

"No." The woman looked at Mac. "I've heard about you. Mac Taylor, right?"

"Yes. I didn't mean to startle you."

Mac got out of the elevator and headed for his Avalanche as the woman went on into the elevator. He made it to the Avalanche and got in. He sat there a moment and relaxed. He did not like being nervous like that. He would not want anyone to know he was either.

Mac started to crank the Avalanche and suddenly, something came crashing through the passenger side window. Mac grabbed for his weapon but he realized what had come through the window was a head! He moved closer to the driver door. He had seen thousands of dead bodies but right now, he almost felt sick. He looked out the window and as he looked out the driver window, suddenly, the jack-o-lantern was in the window. Mac jumped away from it and almost put his hand right down on the head that was now in the passenger seat. Then he heard that evil laugh again.

Mac finally reached for the key and turned the ignition. The truck cranked and he jerked it into reverse. He hit the gas and backed out. He could see that the jack-o-lantern was on a stand so that it was staying where it was. Mac stared at it as it turned toward him as though it could see, and then he heard that laugh again. He knew there was no such thing but right now, he was wanting to get away from here. Then he realized he could not get away. He had to call someone and get them here to try and catch the one who was doing this.

Mac backed the Avalanche away a few more feet and then got his phone. He realized his hands were shaking and he almost laughed at himself. "Get a grip, Taylor," he said. He dialed Don's number and told him to get there now.

"I'm on my way, Mac," Don said as he was running out the door. "What's going on?"

"Just get some people here!"

Mac looked around him and leaned back on the truck seat trying to get his nerves under control, and that burst of adrenaline he had. He gripped his gun in his hand and looked out the windows of the Avalanche and then he looked down at the head in the passenger seat. He was not sure whose head that was, but he figured it was from one of the victims.

Mac had never been so relieved to hear sirens coming. He leaned on the steering wheel and then looked out as Don drove up along with some others, including Jo. He got out of the truck.

"Mac, are you alright?" Don asked.

Mac considered that a moment. "I guess," he said. "To have a head thrown through my passenger window and to be scared out of my wits, I guess I am."

Jo walked over to him and looked in the Avalanche. "Is that one of our victims' heads?" she asked.

"I would imagine it is."

Mac pointed to the jack-o-lantern that was standing…he looked around them. "It's gone!" he said.

"What's gone?" Don asked.

"The jack-o-lantern!" Mac looked angry as he looked around them. "He took it!"

"Mac, how could he get it and you right here?" Jo asked.

Mac looked at her with surprise. "How should I know?" he asked. "I know it was there! You think I dreamed it up?"

"That's not what I'm saying, Mac." Jo could see he was really shaken up.

Mac rubbed his face and looked at Jo. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous right now."

"I can imagine."

They processed that crime scene and even took Mac's Avalanche to the lab. Adam came to the garage to see if he could find any cameras or other electronic equipment. He found one camera above the space where Mac had his Avalanche parked. "He was watching me," Mac said.

"He knew when you came out here," Adam replied.

Jo walked over to them. "Adam, get that back to the lab and see if you can find out where it was broadcasting to or how far it broadcasts," she said.

"Oh, I'm sure he was here in this garage," Mac said.

"Mac, you're coming with me to get some breakfast."

"I'm not sure I can eat now."

"You need some coffee and you need to eat."

Mac went along with Jo and thought about the situation all the way to the restaurant. "It's hard to believe this guy can get around like that and no one sees him," Jo remarked.

"They see him, they just don't know it," Mac said.

"Did you see anything?"

"No. All I saw was that head come flying through the window and then the…" Mac shook his head as he thought of how scared he had been.

"Mac, it would have made anyone nervous."

"I guess what made me the most nervous was not knowing what he would do next."

"We'll get him."

"We're going out to that mental hospital today to find out what kind of patient Andy was. And I want to know why his escape was not reported to me or this precinct."

"It should have been."

Mac wanted to know why it was not and someone was going to tell him…


	7. Chapter 7

**I love getting reviews from you guys. Thanks for all the great reviews I've gotten on this story. I hope you will send more. :) Thanks for reading. Miss37**

When Mac got to the precinct, he found that Don had the warrant for the mental hospital. "I gotta tell you," Don said. "I'm a little nervous about going into that place."

"Why?" Mac asked.

"Well, they let this maniac escape, so how do we know there won't be other not so sane people roaming around out there?"

Mac rolled his eyes at that comment. "Don, relax. This was a freak accident. You have to remember that Drew Bedford is a con man and he is charming and made his way out like that."

"This guy doesn't seem insane to me," Jo said. "I know he is doing all this crazy stuff, but I think he knows exactly what he is doing and I don't think it's out of some insane reason other than revenge."

"I agree," Mac replied. "But he was mentally scarred by what happened to his brother. We didn't even know he was there. He was very small when that happened. What does that do to a kid?"

Jo shook her head. "I don't know. Why did he see you as someone who let his brother die?"

"I had the gun and I could have shot him, but I just couldn't do it."

"But Mac, from what I've learned…even if you had shot him, it would have been too late anyway."

Mac nodded. "I know, but Andy didn't see it that way and neither did Jimmy."

"You can't blame yourself for that."

"I did for a long time, and when all that happened with Andy, it just brought it all back, and now…"

"Don't let him do this to you, Mac," Jo said. "That was a long time ago. You were just a kid. You should be glad you couldn't pull that trigger."

Mac looked at her. "Why?"

"Because you had a conscience. You didn't want to take the life of another human being even if they were killing someone you cared about. You yelled for help. It's not your fault that no one came."

"I was scared to death."

"And what might have happened if you had pulled that trigger? You might have hit your friend."

Mac sighed. "Let's just go to the hospital and see what we can find out."

Jo and Don watched Mac walk toward the elevator a moment before they followed. Don knew Drew Bedford was doing just what he wanted to do. He was making Mac feel guilty again and playing mind games with him.

They went to the mental hospital where Bedford had been a patient since the time he had tried to kill Mac…until he escaped. They went into the visitor's lounge where there was a window where the secretary sat. "Excuse me," Mac said.

"May I help you?" the woman asked. "Are you here to visit someone?"

Mac showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor. We need to talk to someone about an escaped mental patient, Andrew Bedford."

"Just a moment."

Mac, Don and Jo waited while the secretary called someone. "You think they will tell us anything?" Don asked.

"Only one way to find out," Mac replied. "They will have to tell us something because we have a warrant, and besides that, he has killed three people, and maybe four."

Soon, a man came into the waiting area. "Detective Taylor?" he said.

"Yes," Mac replied. "These are my associates, Detective Danville and Detective Flack."

"I'm Doctor James Rollins. I understand you are here about Andrew Bedford."

"Yes." Mac showed him the warrant. "We have a warrant for information about him."

"Come with me."

Mac, Jo and Don followed the doctor back to his office. Dr. Rollins sat down behind his desk, and gestured for Mac, Jo and Don to sit in the chairs across from him. "You're here about Andrew Bedford," he said.

"Yes," Mac replied.

"And your name is Detective Taylor?"

"Yes."

Dr. Rollins leaned forward on his desk and looked at Mac. "How did you know Andrew Bedford?" he asked. "I have heard an awful lot about you."

Mac stared at him a moment. "Tell me what you've heard and I'll tell you whether it's true or not."

"He seems to be obsessed with you…or killing you."

Mac nodded. "He blames me for his brother's death," Mac said. "It happened over thirty years ago."

"Why does he blame you?"

Jo and Don looked at Mac who was not saying anything. "He blames Mac because Mac didn't shoot the guy who was beating his brother," Don informed him. "Mac was only fourteen at the time."

The doctor nodded. "I see," he said.

Don told him what all had happened the last time they tangled with Drew Bedford. "He was trying to get Stella into a relationship with him and the whole time, he was trying to get to Mac. Who knows what would have happened if he had gotten her up into a plane or to go rock climbing. I think he was just trying to get Stella and maybe kill her to cause Mac pain, but since she wouldn't go for it, he kidnapped Mac."

"He probably intended to kidnap us both and have me coming to rescue her and watch her die as I died too, but he wound up having me there and he intended for Stella to come through that door and be shot," Mac said.

"Do you blame yourself?" Dr. Rollins asked.

Mac looked at him. "I used to," he said. "For a long time, I did. I don't know now."

"There's no way this could be your fault. The guy who was beating his brother was an adult, right?"

Mac nodded. "Yes." Mac shook his head. "I'm not here about me. I'm here about Drew Bedford. I want to know when he escaped and anything he told you in his sessions that referred to the Headless Horseman."

"The headless horseman?"

"Yes. He has been dressing as the headless horseman, and he has killed three people at least, maybe four, and he intends to kill me. I also want to know why we were not informed that he escaped."

"It was reported to the local police that he had escaped," Dr. Rollins said. "I don't know why that information was not passed on to you, but I don't recall him making any references to the headless horseman. I do recall him wanting to kill you and make you suffer for his brother's death. He seemed to be obsessed with that and with the number three, especially in triple digits. I understand that was the number on the hotel room where his brother was killed."

"Yes," Mac replied. "He calls me at three-thirty-three every morning. He beheaded three people."

Dr. Rollins leaned back in his chair. "He's definitely unstable."

"He's more than that," Don said. "He's deranged and dangerous. We have to find this guy."

"I don't know how to help you do that. I don't know anything about where he would be now."

"Did he talk in metaphors or anything?" Mac asked.

"He used to say that when he got out of here, he was going to be with his brother," Dr. Rollins said. "I assumed that meant he was going to kill himself."

"It could," Mac said. He thought a moment. "But it could mean something else."

"The cemetery," Jo said.

"But he buried in Chicago." Mac looked at her. "He couldn't do all this here if he was in Chicago."

"Right. Maybe he moved his body."

Mac scowled. "He did dig up the body of Bobby Toole," he said.

Don nodded. "You think he would dig up his own brother?" he asked.

Mac looked at him. "I wouldn't put anything past him."

Jo folded her arms. "Mac, how are we going to catch him?" she asked.

"We probably can't until he wants to be found."

Mac, Don and Jo left the mental hospital. "Why don't we find out if there has been any vandalism at the cemetery in Chicago where his brother was buried?" Mac asked.

"I'll get on that," Don said.

They went back to the precinct and Mac went up to his office. He sat and thought about the night Will Bedford died. He could remember it like it was yesterday even though he had not thought about it for a long time. He always tried to tell himself that he was just a kid and it was not his fault, but deep down, he felt like it was his fault. He thought that might have been the reason he wanted to become a cop and put people like Bobby Toole in prison where they belonged. He had even wanted to go to a war.

"Mac!"

Mac was startled when he looked up and Don was standing in his office. "Wake up," Don said.

"What do you want, Don?" Mac asked.

"I checked out that cemetery. They 'did' have some vandalism."

Mac looked at him a moment. "And?"

"Do I really have to tell you?"

"Don, just humor me."

"Not only was Bobby Toole's body dug up again, but Will Bedford too."

Mac frowned. "He would vandalize his own brother's grave?"

"This guy has gone off the deep end, Mac. You better watch your…head."

Mac groaned at that. "That's a bad joke, Don."

"It was all I could think of."

Don blew out a breath. "So, you think this guy is out there somewhere with his brother's dead body?" he asked.

"Probably," Mac said.

"How did he get two dead bodies over here without anyone noticing?"

"How did he get a dead body into the Tribune building without anyone noticing?"

"Good question," Don said.

"Maybe we should check the cemeteries around here to see if there have been any strange happenings."

"Not the cemetery. Not this time of year."

"Don, we're cops. We have to do the undesirable things sometimes."

"That's a lot of cemeteries."

"I'm sure he will make himself known before we can visit them all."

Mac leaned on his desk. "I'm sure he's here in the city somewhere," he said. "He could be staying at one of the cemeteries and coming out at night. It could be one that no one pays much attention to anymore."

"There are plenty of those. Please tell me we can go there before Midnight," Don said.

Mac chuckled at that. "Why?"

"Mac, if we go out there to that cemetery in the dark and I hear one moan or see anything moving, I'm leaving."

"Don, I'm sure we're not going to see any ghosts or hear any ghosts either."

By that evening, they were no closer to finding Andrew Bedford. "Everybody go get some rest," Mac said. "We'll take this up again in the morning."

"Mac, are you going to stay home alone?" Don asked.

"Don, I've been alone for a long time," Mac replied. "I don't need a bodyguard."

"Come on. We're talking about a psychopathic killer who wants to behead you…or some other bizarre thing."

"He's right," Jo agreed. "You don't need to be there alone."

Mac blew out a breath. "Alright," he said.

"Good," Don said. "I'm staying with you or you're staying with me."

"You're staying with me," Mac declared. "I have two rooms. You can sleep in the other one."

"Great."

"I'll see you guys in the morning," Jo said.

"Let someone walk you out," Mac said.

Mac and Don went to Mac's apartment. Mac yawned as he unlocked the door. "I'm ready to get some sleep," he said.

"It will be nice," Don replied.

Mac turned the light on and then stopped. "Do you smell something?" he asked.

Don sniffed a moment. "Yeah," he said. "Almost smells like…dirt."

Mac scowled. "Must be musty."

They walked on into the apartment and Mac went to his room. He turned the light on and almost lost his breath at what he saw…


	8. Chapter 8

Mac turned to leave the room and ran right into Don. "Let me out of here!" Mac said and went around Don. Mac leaned with a hand on the wall trying desperately not to get sick.

Don stared into the bedroom at the scene. There was an obviously dug up body lying on the bed and one lying in the floor beside the bed, but there was blood poured all over them and the bed and floor, and there was blood spatter all over the room. Don looked at Mac and then into the room again. He wondered where all that blood came from. He turned back to Mac who had his back to Don.

Don got his phone and called the mess in and then looked at Mac. He was not sure what to say. They both knew whose bodies were in there. Mac finally turned around toward Don. Don thought Mac's face looked very pale. "You alright?" Don asked.

"No," Mac replied. "He must have killed someone else."

Don looked into the bedroom again. "I can't see into the bathroom in there, but I don't want to contaminate this crime scene," he said.

Mac nodded. "Just wait for Danny and the others."

"You want some water?"

Mac nodded as he sat down on the sofa. Don headed for the kitchen, but when he went in the door, he came right back out. He looked at Mac who was rubbing his eyes and taking deep breaths. He hated to tell him what he saw in there.

Mac looked around at Don. "So, where's the water?" he asked. He stared at Don a moment and then frowned. "Never mind."

Don wished the others would hurry and get there. He wanted to go outside and get some air. He realized Mac had a balcony. "You mind if I go out there and get some fresh air?"

"Go ahead."

Don went over to the glass door, but he realized the glass was broken out. They had not noticed that when they came in. It was completely broken out so that it would not be so noticeable. Mac stood up. "He broke the glass out?" he asked angrily.

Don looked at Mac. "Looks like it," he said.

Mac was angry. "Just wait until I get hold of him. He's vandalized my apartment and he's killing people!"

"Just calm down, Mac. We'll get him."

Mac glared at him, but not really at Don. "I'm going to get him," he said.

Soon, Danny, Sheldon and Adam arrived at the apartment along with the others who worked the crime scene. Danny looked at Mac. He hated this but they had to go into the apartment and search. "Just go ahead," Mac said.

"Don't forget the kitchen," Don said.

"The kitchen too?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah, and it's not a decayed corpse in there."

"Let's get the bedroom first," Danny said.

When they walked into the bedroom, they were shocked at the horror scene. "This is sick, Man," Sheldon said.

"That guy has only gotten worse," Danny remarked. "He's building up to something."

"I can't believe he dug up these bodies."

They took pictures of the scene and then took samples of the blood. "I assume this is Bobby Toole on the bed and Will Bedford in the floor," Danny said.

Sheldon nodded. "Look how they're positioned," he said.

"Must be how they died in that room all those years ago." Danny looked at Sheldon. "He's crazy."

"I agree."

They finished in the bedroom and then went into the bathroom. There was a body in the tub and a lot of blood. The body was beheaded and there was a bucket with some blood still in it. "Man, this is sick," Sheldon said.

"I wonder who this victim is," Danny said.

They took pictures of the scene and took samples of that blood too and then went on to the kitchen. Danny almost wanted to turn and walk out. "How is he going to live here after this?" Danny asked.

"I don't know," Sheldon replied. "I think I would have to move."

There was blood all over the kitchen, but the worst thing about it was that there were three heads sitting up on the table facing the door. "This is disgusting," Danny said. "I think I want a vacation after this."

When they were done with the kitchen, they went back into the living room where Mac was sitting in his leather chair staring out his broken door. "I assume he did this too," Danny said.

Mac looked at him and nodded. He did not say anything as they examined the door and took pictures. Sheldon looked at Mac. "We're sorry about this, Mac," he said.

"It's not your fault," Mac replied.

"What do you want us to do next?" Danny asked.

"Just figure out who the other victim is."

Danny nodded. He wished Mac would say something. "You need anything?" he asked.

Mac shook his head. Danny and Sheldon walked over to Flack. "I'll stay with him," Don said.

"Take him to a hotel or something," Sheldon said. "Don't let him stay here."

"I won't."

When everyone else was gone, Don walked over to Mac. "Why don't we get some of your things and you can stay with me a while," Don said.

Mac just nodded. He was in no mood to argue with anyone. He got up and started to go into his bedroom but then he turned around. "You want me to get you some stuff?" Don asked.

"Just get me some t-shirts, sweaters and jeans and everything," Mac said. "There's a duffle bag in the closet."

Don went on into the room. He was glad the closet was closed or Mac's clothes would have been ruined too. He got some stuff for Mac and put it in the duffle bag and then went back into the living room. "You ready?" Don asked.

Mac nodded and they went down to Flack's car. Just as they were about to get to the car in the parking garage, they heard a horse galloping. "He's here!" Mac said.

They whirled around as they saw the black horse coming that way with the headless horseman on it and the jack-o-lantern's evil stare. Mac saw the sword in the horseman's hand. They started to draw their weapons but then a shrill sound echoed through the garage and they had to cover their ears but the windows on Don's car and cars surrounding it blew out.

Mac dove for the car as the horse went by and the sword swatted at him. Then he heard that evil laugh again and he galloped away down toward the exit. Mac looked around for the source of that sound. He saw a box up on one of the supports. He aimed and shot it and the sound stopped. Mac grimaced as he rubbed his ears. Don came from behind the car and looked at Mac as he was shaking his finger in his ear. "Well, what now?" he asked.

Mac wished he could just disappear. Don called in this incident and they had to wait until someone came. Danny and Adam arrived. "Wow," Adam said as he saw the glass from all the cars everywhere.

"You guys alright?" Danny asked.

Mac looked at his hands. "I didn't get cut," he said.

"So, what happened?"

"The headless horseman came by and he activated that thing to keep us from shooting him while he tried to behead me," Mac said. He pointed toward the electronic device.

Adam shined his light on the device. "It did all this?" he asked. "You guys must have a headache."

"I had one before this."

When they were done this time, Mac and Don got in the truck with Danny and Adam. They arrived at the precinct and went up to the lab. "I think I'm just going to take a shower," Mac said.

Don, Danny and Adam watched as Mac walked away with the duffle bag. Sheldon came in there. "He needs some rest," Sheldon said.

"I'm going to get him out of here when I can," Don said. "All the windows in my car were blown out. I'm not sure I want to use a cab. That guy is liable to try anything. I'll get a police issue vehicle but I'm going into the locker room to make sure no one harasses him in there."

"Good idea," Danny said.

Don walked to the locker and shower room. He could hear the shower running but Mac was still at his locker. He hung his suit in the locker and put a towel around him and headed into the shower room. Don sat on the bench at the lockers and waited while Mac was taking his shower. He examined his weapon after he made the call to get the police issue vehicle. He made sure everything was working on the gun. He would clean it when he got home.

When Mac came out of the shower, he was surprised to see Don sitting on the bench. "I don't need a bodyguard," Mac declared.

Don stood up. "I'll wait for you out here," he said and walked around to the other area of lockers.

Mac blew out a loud breath. He dried himself and got into a t-shirt and black jeans and a dark green sweater. He was wearing sneakers too. He wanted to have something easy to run in if he had to run. He leaned on the locker. He knew he was letting that guy get to him but he could not forget seeing that sword swinging in his direction. He put his weapon on his side, got his duffle bag and closed his locker.

Don was waiting when Mac came around the lockers. He looked at Don and then they went back out to the lab. "I'm getting a police issue car," Don said. "It should be ready by the time we get down there."

They walked into the lab where Danny and the others were working on the evidence. "The victim in the tub was the owner of one of the heads that were in the kitchen," Danny said. "We're still waiting for the ID on her. Her license was in her pocket, but it was damaged so we couldn't see the name. We'll have to wait for the DNA analysis."

"So it was a girl," Mac said.

Danny nodded. "The other two heads on the kitchen table were most likely from two of the other victims that were killed before."

"Did Sid figure out whose head was thrown through my window?"

"That one belonged to Jeremy Black, the first victim."

"I guess I will go down and find out what Sid knows."

"Mac, you need to get some rest," Don said.

Mac looked at him. "I don't want to."

"You need to get your mind off this for a while. Let's go, Mac."

Mac looked at the others and he could tell that they all agreed. "Alright," he conceded. "But I want to know what you guys find out."

"You will," Sheldon said.

Don and Mac went to the elevator. Mac had to admit he felt exhausted from everything that had been going on. It was almost like the first time Andy Bedford was torturing him. He just did something all the time and nothing led them to anything but another dead body.

"Why don't we go out to my mother's house?" Don asked. "She lives outside the city and maybe that guy won't think of looking there."

"Don, I want to work on the case tomorrow," Mac said.

"Sure, but for the night, maybe we could go out there and spend the night and have some peace. Mom has plenty of room."

Mac considered that. "I don't want to intrude on your mother."

"She would be happy to see somebody."

"What's wrong with just staying here?"

"I just thought you might want to get out of here away from this guy for a while. I'm just trying to help."

"I know, and I'm thankful, Don." Mac considered that a moment. "Go ahead."

"Good." Don called his mother and let her know that they were coming. He put his phone away. "See? I told you she would be glad."

Mac stared at the cemetery they were passing by. "Stop a minute, Don," he said.

Don frowned. "We're not going out there, are we?" he asked.

"Come on."

Don watched Mac get out of the car. "Why do we have to go out there at night?" he asked. He got out of the car. He could not just let Mac go out there alone.

Mac walked out into the cemetery and looked around at all the gravestones. "Maybe he's staying at a graveyard somewhere," he said. He looked toward the crypt. "He could be staying in a crypt that isn't used anymore."

"Mac, let's just go and get into this tomorrow."

Mac looked at Don. "Alright," he said. "But I think he's staying at a graveyard."

"I'll get people on that."

They got back into the car and headed toward Don's mother's house again. "You may be right about a graveyard," Don said. "He could stay there and no one would suspect it."

"Right. There are crypts in this city that no one uses anymore."

"I guess the people have died out and no one visits them anymore."

Mac thought of that. He figured no one would visit his grave when he was gone. He had no wife, no children, therefore, he would have no grandchildren. He would just be a plot in the cemetery. He sighed as he thought of the sadness of that. He would be forgotten. Maybe someone would remember his service as a police officer, but he did not know.

As they were traveling toward Don's mother's house, they were on a dark road and as they were going around a curve, suddenly, a beheaded body fell on the car, splattering the windshield. Don swerved which caused the body to fall off on the road. Then as he was trying to get the car under control, suddenly, a horse was in the road.

"Don, look out!" Mac yelled.

Don had no time because the horse was running toward them and he ran into it…


	9. Chapter 9

Mac woke up to pain in his neck and back as well as his right arm and his head. He realized someone was trying to pull him from the…car? Yes, he remembered, they were in the car…

Mac got his eyes open but he could not see clearly. "Stop," he said. He thought whoever was trying to get him from the car was not supposed to be pulling on him like that. "Stop."

"Come on, Detective Taylor."

Mac was still a moment as he thought that voice sounded familiar, but he could not get his brain unclouded to figure out who it was. Whoever it was was pulling him out of the car and hurting his back. "Stop," he said. "You're hurting me."

"Don't worry. Your pain will be over soon."

The man finally got Mac from the car. Mac groaned as he dropped him on the ground. "Don," he said as he remembered that Don had been driving. "Is he alright?"

Mac did not hear anything. He shook his head trying to clear it. He reached for the door of the car and tried to sit up. It was so dark, he could hardly see anything. He was trying to figure out where the car was. Had they left the road? He knew they had been in a wreck but he could not quite remember what happened.

Mac realized there were no sirens and no flashing lights that he could see. "Don!" he called. "Don!" He did not hear anything so he tried to pull himself up, but his right arm was hurting very badly. He reached for the seat of the car to try and pull on it to move. He finally got up on his knees and realized that Don was still in the car but he was knocked out. "Don!"

Suddenly, the other person was there beside Mac. "Quiet, Mac, you don't want to disturb him where I'll have to kill him, do you?"

Mac's eyes widened as panic started to set in. He realized who was talking to him. Drew Bedford leaned over to his ear. "You know who I am now, don't you?" he asked.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mac asked.

"We're going to take a trip."

"NO!"

Mac tried to get away from Bedford, but he could not. He was hurt and his head was spinning. "Andy, you don't have to do this!" he said.

"Don't call me Andy!" Bedford yelled.

"Why? That's your name!"

Bedford put his knee into Mac's back and pulled his hands behind him. Mac tried to struggle but he bore his knee harder into his back. Mac could not move as Andy cuffed his hands behind him. Then he felt a needle prick in his neck. Mac remembered feeling that the last time he had been kidnapped by this maniac, but he could not resist the drug.

Don Flack woke up with a splitting headache. He thought he was aching all over and then he heard sirens. He tried to get his eyes open. He could not remember where he was at the moment. The sirens were coming and then all of a sudden, they stopped. He could see the lights flashing through his eyelids.

The next thing Flack knew, a paramedic was leaning over him in the car. "What happened?" Don asked.

"Looks like you were in a wreck," the paramedic replied. "You don't remember anything?"

Don thought a moment. "Mac," he said. "Where's Mac? Is he alright?"

"Mac? There's no one else here in the car but you."

"No. Mac was with me." Don was trying to remember what happened but everything seemed fuzzy and like it was in pieces blowing around in a wind.

The paramedic, whose name was Jason, had noticed that the passenger door was open, but he had assumed that it had just come open in the wreck. "Check for another person out there," he said to his partner.

Of course, they did not find anyone. "There's a little blood on this side of the car," the other paramedic said.

"Who is your friend?" Jason asked.

"Mac Taylor," Don answered. He tried to move.

"Now, you be still. You could have a neck injury."

"He must have got him! You have to help him!"

"Who?"

"Mac! I need to talk to Danny Messer!"

Jason was having a hard time keeping Don still. He got Don's phone and looked in the phone book and found Danny's number. He gave Don the phone.

"Messer," Danny answered.

"Danny!" Don exclaimed. "He got Mac!"

"What!"

"He got him! I don't know when but he got him! He caused us to have a wreck and he got Mac while I was out!"

Danny looked at Lindsey. He was at his apartment now. "Where are you, Don?" he asked.

Don told him where they had been going. "I was trying to help him and I just made it possible for that maniac to get him!" he said.

"NO! This is not your fault! I don't want to hear that! We will find Mac. That idiot probably wants to be found."

"This time is different, Danny. He wants to kill Mac."

"Just go to the hospital and we'll get this started."

Danny ended the call and looked at Lindsey. "That maniac got Mac," he said.

"What?" Lindsey asked. "How?"

Danny was getting dressed. "It's a long story, Lindsey. We have to find him."

Lindsey followed Danny into the living room as he grabbed his jacket and put it on. "Be careful," Lindsey said. "And find him."

"I will," Danny replied. He kissed her and went out the door.

When Danny got to the lab, Jo and Sheldon were already there. "We just heard," Jo said. "I don't know where to start."

"Mac seemed to think that Bedford might be hold up in a cemetery somewhere," Sheldon said.

"But where?"

"There must be some sort of clue. We need to go out there where that wreck happened. Since he was there, he might have tracked something out there."

"It is sure worth a try. I'll get Adam to run down some cemeteries."

Mac woke up lying flat of his back but he was bound to something by his wrists and ankles. He blinked his eyes as he was so groggy he thought he could not wake up. Then he remembered what happened. He tried to sit up, but he was tied down. He looked around him and realized he was in a crypt. "Hey!" he yelled. "Let me out of here!"

Just then, Drew Bedford walked in. "Now, Mac, you know I'm not going to let you out," he said. "And you might as well not scream because no one is going to hear you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Just because…I want to."

Mac stared at him a moment and then he pulled at the cuffs that were holding him. "Help me!" he yelled.

"Aw, you don't believe me," Andy said. He leaned close to Mac.

Mac swallowed hard. "They'll find you. Even if you kill me, they will find you."

"I am only going to give them three days. Your next three days are going to be…well, you know."

Mac stared at him. He could see the insanity in his eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Andy picked up a roll of duct tape.

Mac shook his head. "No, no, don't."

"Are you going to be quiet?"

Mac was angry because he was having to give in to the guy. "Yes, I will be quiet."

"Good."

Mac hated that smug smile on Andy's face. "Just remember, if you cause anyone to come down here, I'll kill them, behead them, and set the head up here for you to enjoy."

Mac watched as Andy dressed up at the headless horseman. "Now, I have to go and terrorize New York a little, just to throw them off the trail," he said.

"What about your horse?" Mac asked. "You sent him right in front of the car!"

"Well, that wasn't my horse. Don't worry, he's alive and well."

Mac heard the gate lock as Andy left. He was trapped here now in the dark with only the flicker of an oil lamp. Mac swallowed hard as he heard nothing but quiet. He could not move to help himself and he had no way of helping himself anyway. He wondered what kind of horrors Andy had in mind. He knew it would not be anything good for him. He supposed this could be the end of his life. He was tired anyway. He was tired of these ghosts coming out of the past and trying to kill him.

Danny and Sheldon were at the wreck site. They had to use flashlights because it was definitely dark out there. They did not have much hope of finding anything but they had to try. There was a lot of glass on the ground. The car had been taken to the lab to be examined but everything had not been moved yet. They would figure out what had happened. They knew Mac had been in the car but he was not there when the paramedics arrived.

"I don't see anything," Sheldon said.

"There has to be something," Danny replied. He took pictures of the beheaded body that had apparently been thrown at the windshield although Danny thought it looked like the car had hit something hard. There had been blood on the windshield as well. It would all be investigated at the lab. They would have to figure out who this new body was.

They did not find anything at the wreck site that would lead to anything but further down the road, they found where a car had been. "He must have waited for them," Sheldon said. "How did he know where they were going?"

"Good question," Danny replied. "He had been listening in on Mac's conversations before. Maybe he got another bug on him somehow."

Sheldon looked at Danny. "How is this guy getting around like this?"

"I don't know. He's like a ghost."

"That's for sure. He always seems to know everything he needs to know to get where he wants to be."

"Yeah, and that's why he's hard to catch."

When Danny and Sheldon arrived back at the lab, Jo was waiting for them. "Guess what," she said.

"Don't tell me it's another body," Danny said.

"No…not yet…but the headless horseman was seen tonight. He's playing with us."

"Well, we're not playing and we're going to find this maniac and he won't be getting out the next time."

Mac was barely awake when Drew came back into the crypt. Drew laughed. "I can imagine what they're talking about," he said. "The headless horseman has been seen tonight." He laughed again. "They must be surprised."

Mac just stared at the ceiling. His head was hurting and so was his back. Suddenly, Andy leaned over him. "Better get some rest," he said. "Tomorrow, we begin your three days." He patted Mac roughly on the face. "Good night." He put a blanket over him. "I wouldn't want you to get cold."

Mac was already cold. He had to admit the blanket felt good. He had to figure out how to get out of this situation…


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I must tell you, this chapter is pretty gruesome. I hope you will all send reviews. Thanks.**

**Day 1**

Mac woke up feeling sore all over. He almost forgot that he was in a crypt until he tried to move his arms. He remembered that Andy had captured him from a wreck. He wondered if it was morning. He had no way of knowing because he was under the ground and there was no light from outside that came into this place. He stared at the concrete ceiling of the crypt. It did not even have a crack in it. He was also lying on concrete. He supposed Andy would kill him down here and just put him in this stone tomb and leave him and no one might ever find him. He tried to pull at the cuffs but his right arm was very sore this morning and especially his shoulder. He supposed he might as well just lie here and wait to see what Andy would do. There was nothing else he could do. He had no way of contacting anyone and no way of getting loose.

Jo and the others at the lab were trying to figure out what graveyard Andy might have taken Mac to. "I guess the only thing we can do is to go to them," Jo declared. "But we have to narrow it down."

"I'm trying to do that," Adam replied. "I mean, do you know how many cemeteries there are in New York?"

"Concentrate on the ones in Manhattan. He's bound to be close around here somewhere."

Jo left the computer lab and went into the lab where Danny, Sheldon and Lindsey were working on the evidence that had been collected from the wreck. "Mac was definitely in that car," Danny said as he showed her the DNA results. He looked at Jo. "Bedford must have dragged him from the car after the wreck happened."

"Where would he take him?" Jo asked.

"Not the subway again. I think that guy is obsessed with death now."

"I agree," Sheldon added. "However, the damages to the car on the windshield are consistent with the body being dropped on it, but the damages to the front of the car and the hood don't make sense. They had to hit something else, but what?"

"Maybe he removed that too," Lindsey suggested.

"It would have to be something big to cause this kind of damage."

"Maybe they hit a deer," Danny said. "We didn't look around to see if any deer carcasses had been knocked out there anywhere."

Just as they were examining more of the evidence, Don Flack came from the elevator along with Jamie Lovato. "Don, what are you doing here?" Jo asked. "You should be in the hospital." She looked at the bandage on his head.

"I'm alright," Don said. "I want to help find Mac."

"We're trying to narrow down cemeteries. You got any thoughts on this?"

"Why don't you look for all the cemeteries that have threes in the address or in the name or anything like that? He's bound to be somewhere with threes."

"And the number of the crypt too," Danny said.

"Yeah, that would be an option too," Don agreed.

"How did this guy get loose?" Jamie asked. "How can they be so careless as to let someone like this get out?"

"He's a charmer. He will do anything to achieve what he's trying to achieve."

"So where do we start?"

"Adam is narrowing down the cemeteries," Jo said. "We have to wait until we have that list. There's no way we can search every cemetery in New York. We would never find Mac in time."

"If it's not already too late," Jamie said.

"No, he'll want to torture him somehow," Don replied. "I just hope we can find Mac before…"

They were all silent. They did not want to find Mac dead, but they did not want to find him tortured into insanity either.

Mac lay there wondering what Andy intended to do. Then he heard a noise within the crypt. Everything echoed in there. Then he heard footsteps. Mac swallowed hard. He knew Andy must have something horrible in store for him.

Andy walked into the room where Mac was. He slapped him on the thigh. "Did you sleep well?" he asked loudly.

Mac frowned and did not say anything. Andy leaned over him. "What? You don't want to talk to me?" He stared at Mac a moment. "I'm sure you'll want to talk to me later." He took out a gun. "I'm going to uncuff you and let you go to the bathroom, but you better not try anything or I will shoot you just to incapacitate you because I want you to die slowly."

Mac stared at him. "I wouldn't want you to wet yourself," Andy said, matter-of-factly.

Mac stayed still while Andy took the cuffs off. He sat up and grimaced as his shoulder and arm hurt. He glared at Andy. "What do you hope to accomplish by this?" he asked.

"Shut up and let's go."

Mac stood up and they walked toward the back of the crypt. Mac was surprised at how large it was. Of course, there was no bathroom, but Drew took him outside where there was a sewer entrance. "Just use that," he said. "I'm sure no one will mind."

Mac wanted to overpower him and get away but he knew Andy meant what he said about injuring him. He relieved himself and then Andy took him back into the crypt, only he took him to a different room. Mac looked around the room which looked like a torture chamber. He could not help but wonder what all this stuff was doing here at a graveyard…at least he thought he was at a graveyard. He was not sure of anything.

"Sit down here," Andy said gesturing to a metal table that was bolted to the floor and a metal chair that was also bolted to the floor.

Mac stared at it a moment, but he had no choice but to sit down. He did not want to be injured out here. He walked toward the table and then a door opened and two other people walked in. Mac frowned. "I don't want you to think you can overpower me," Andy said. "They're here to insure that you're under control."

The other two walked over to Mac and made him sit down in the chair. Then they taped his legs to the chair and taped him to the chair around his waist. Mac stared at the cuffs on the table that he supposed were to hold his wrists. They cuffed his arms to the table. Mac glared at Andy. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

Andy leaned on the table and smiled his evil smile at Mac. "I'm going to see how tough you really are, Mr. Hero," he said. He scoffed at that. "I can't believe they still call you a hero."

Mac watched as Andy walked around the table and went over to another table where he had a box sitting. He took out a small box and walked over to the table where Mac was sitting. He opened the box. Mac stared at the contents of the box and then looked into Andy's insane eyes. Andy leaned on the table and stared into Mac's eyes. "I'm looking for that fear," he said. "How are you at pain, Detective?"

"Andy, stop this," Mac said.

"Is that your fear talking or are you just trying to intimidate me? In case you haven't noticed, I'm in control here. You can't intimidate me."

Mac glared at him. "You're insane," he said.

Andy stood up straight and smiled. "That's what they said at the hospital," he said. "I just let them think it. If they had realized I wasn't insane, I would have been sent to prison."

Mac watched as Andy took one of the toothpick-like wood sticks. He knew they were not toothpicks, they were bamboo shoots. "Don't do this," he said.

"Aw, are you going to beg?" Andy asked as though his interest was peaked.

Mac frowned. Andy took a roll of duct tape and taped Mac's fingers to the table so that he could not move them and pull them back. Mac knew what he was about to do. Andy leaned over and stared into Mac's eyes. "I see your fear," he said.

"How do you think you would feel if you knew somebody was about to stick that under your nails?" Mac asked.

"I don't know. I've never been in that position, but I wonder how you would feel if you were in a hospital full of people who thought you were crazy and gave you shots and put you in a straight jacket to calm you down."

"You 'are' crazy."

"We'll see."

Mac watched as that bamboo shoot moved closer to this nail. He knew it was going to be excruciating pain but he could not move…

Jo and the others were visiting their first cemetery. It had taken them almost an hour to get there because of traffic. They had a map of the place that Adam had printed out. They did not know whether it was the right place but it had a crypt that had been abandoned years ago and the number on it was 333. They moved over to the crypt and drew their weapons. They did not see anything unusual around it, nor did they hear anything. They soon found that there was no one at the crypt. They were beginning to feel hopeless.

"He could be anywhere," Jo said worriedly.

"We can't give up," Danny replied.

They went on to the next cemetery and found the same thing. "We don't know, he could have chosen a place that has nothing to do with a three," Don declared.

"I doubt that," Jo said. "He's too obsessed with that number."

They knew they had a lot of cemeteries to visit. There were a lot of cemeteries in New York and there were a lot of them that were virtually abandoned. They were visiting those first, but it would take them a long time to find the right one unless they just got lucky.

Mac was sitting at that table looking at those bamboo shoots under his nails. He had never been through anything like that in his life. He had thrown up in his lap because he could not move and he thought his bladder had forgotten that he emptied it earlier. He had struggled not to scream but after three nails, he could not hold back anymore. He watched the blood dripping from his fingers which were still taped to the table.

Andy was pacing back and forth in front of the table like a waiting predator. He leaned over and looked at Mac. Mac forced himself to look at him and glare at him. "You still think you're so tough?" Andy asked.

Mac was not about to say anything. He was shaking inside but he would not let this maniac have the pleasure of hearing or seeing it. "If you thought they were bad going in, wait till I pull them out," Andy said.

Mac frowned, knowing that he would make it as slow and excruciating as he could. Andy sat down in a chair across from Mac and stared at him. "You're not going to beg?" he asked. Mac just stared. "You're no fun at all."

Mac watched as Andy reached for the first shoot. When he touched it, that sharp pain went all the way to his feet. He tried not to gasp and gritted his teeth as Andy just took his time with it. He felt sick again but he was sure there was nothing in his stomach. When the shoot was out, his finger throbbed and that seemed to make all the others throb too. He groaned with the next one. He hoped the others were looking for him because he did not know how much of this he could take.

Jo and the others were still going through the second cemetery. They wanted to make sure they checked every crypt. They felt urgency in looking for Mac and thought he did not have much time. They could not imagine what horrors Andy could be putting Mac through.

When all the bamboo shoots were out, Andy unhooked Mac's hands from the table. Mac stared at his hands. He knew why he had done this. It was to cripple him and make him unable to fight. They got him out of the chair and led him out of that room. "I guess you need something to eat," Andy said. "But you can't wear those clothes now. I can't stand that smell."

Mac wondered what he had in mind now. He knew he could not get himself undressed and change clothes. He felt sick and he wanted to lie down and sleep. They took him back into the other room where he had been lying. Andy laid a sweat suit on the stone bed. "Put that on," he said. "And don't be long about it."

Mac looked at him. "How do you think I can put that on?" he asked angrily.

"Figure it out!"

Mac watched as they left the room. He wanted to yell and let Andy know what he thought of him, but he would not give him the satisfaction of that. He looked at his hands. His fingers were so sore he could barely stand to move them. He thought they were swollen too. He decided he would have to try anyway.

As Mac began trying to change his clothes, he tried to focus his mind on something far away so he could not feel the pain so much. He looked at his watch and realized it was already almost Noon. He had been in there…he did not know how long. It seemed like forever. When his clothes were changed, he lay down on the stone bed and pulled the blanket over him. He was shivering now and cold.

The next thing Mac knew, Andy was there with something for him to eat. He dropped a bag on the stone bed. "Enjoy," he said. "It could be your last meal."

Mac looked at the bag which was from a Chinese restaurant. He wondered what was in it and he wondered if he dare ate it. He looked at the bag and it did not look like it had been opened and reclosed. He opened the bag and looked in and there were two containers in there. It definitely smelled good but he had no way of knowing whether Andy poisoned the food or not. He certainly did not want to get anything on his fingers that would burn those wounds.

Mac took one of the boxes out. The smell made his stomach growl. He opened the box and looked at the food. He wanted to eat it but he was afraid it contained something that would make him extremely sick. He remembered learning testing techniques. Take one bite and it probably will not be enough to kill you or make you too sick. He looked at the food and took one bite and then closed the box. He would wait and see what happened.

As Mac waited, he thought that bite was just enough to make him hungrier. He waited for about thirty minutes and nothing happened except he wanted to eat more, so he opened that same box and ate more. Some of the sauce from the chicken got on his fingers, however, and did not feel at all good to his raw nail beds. He grabbed a napkin from the bag and tried to get it off as best he could. He finished eating and lay back down. He wondered what Andy would do next. He had not tried to torture him with the food. He supposed he wanted to watch when he tortured him.

Mac's fingers were throbbing and they were definitely swollen. He would not be able to fight his way out of this now. He doubted he could even make a fist…no he was sure he could not.

Just as Mac thought he might fall asleep, he heard the door to the room he was in. "Oh, Mac," Andy said. "Wake up!"

Mac wanted to hide under the blanket, but he would not let that guy know how much he dreaded what was coming next…whatever that was. Andy walked over in front of him. "Are you hands hurting?" he asked.

Mac wanted to jump up and grab him and teach him a thing or two. Andy laughed as he could see the anger on Mac's face. "You would like to kill me, wouldn't you?" he asked.

"Shut up!" Mac yelled. "Why don't you just go ahead and kill me!?"

"In time, but first I want you to suffer like my brother suffered. Can you imagine what it would be like to be beaten to death?"

"I didn't beat your brother to death!"

"But you were there! And you could have helped him!"

"No I couldn't! I was just a kid! I couldn't do anything about that grown man! He could have killed us all!"

"You had a gun in your hand!"

"I don't care! I was a kid! I didn't want to take a human life!"

"Not even to save someone's life?"

Mac sat up but then the other two came into the room. "You call me a coward?" he asked. "You're a coward! You keep hiding behind this vendetta you have against the whole world and you can't even go on with life! My wife was killed too, but I know I have to go on with life!"

"That's different! No one could do anything about that! If you had been standing there with a missile launcher, would you have shot that plane down?"

Mac's mouth dropped open. He was shocked by that question. Andy could see the shock on Mac's face. "You never thought of that, did you?" he asked.

Mac frowned and just stared at him. "Come on," Andy said. "Let's go. You can't fight…now we're going to make sure you can't run."

Mac looked around him for some way to get out of there, but he could not. They took him into that other room again. Mac stopped inside the door, but the other two pushed him forward. He moved over to one side and stood against the wall.

"Come on over here," Andy said.

"No," Mac replied. "I'm not coming willingly."

"Suit yourself."

Mac looked to see the other two coming toward him. He moved away from them, but he could not escape. They grabbed him and even though he struggled, they still dragged him over to his next torture rack.

Jo and the others were at another cemetery now. They were all weary and tired but they wanted to find Mac so badly, they could not even stop to eat lunch. However, when they were done with that cemetery, it was getting late. "We have to stop and eat," Don said wearily. "I'm starting to get weak."

"Me too," Jo replied. She rubbed her forehead. She folded her arms. "I just hope he's okay."

They trudged back to their cars and just stood there for a moment. "Are we sure he's in a cemetery?" Don asked.

"No," Jo said. "But we don't have any other leads and until we get some, we have to go with this one."

They all got on their way wishing that they had found some sort of clue…anything that would point to where Mac was, but there was nothing.

Mac was lying on his stone bed again shivering under the blanket. He had barely made it back to that bed after they had stuck needles into his toes and heels, but they had forced him to walk back in there. He hoped that was the end of it this day. It was late, so maybe Andy had had his fill for the day. Mac looked around the room he was in but he did not see any way out. There was a metal gate at the entrance and it was locked. That was the only way that he saw that led out of this place. He just hoped his friends could find him. He knew they were looking for him. He could feel the throbbing in his hands and feet but he was so tired, he fell asleep anyway…


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for all your reviews. I hope you will keep them coming and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is not near as gruesome as the last. :) Thanks for reading. miss37**

**Day 2**

Mac did not wake up until he heard the gate rattling and he assumed it was the next morning. He almost groaned as he felt the soreness in his hands and feet. He thought he had fever too because he was freezing. He just lay there and stared at the wall and then Andy came over and stood in front of him. Mac did not move. Andy leaned down and looked at Mac. "You ready for today?" he asked.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Mac asked.

"That would be no fun."

Mac almost gasped when Andy pulled the blanket off him. "You don't look so tough now," Andy said.

Mac just stared at the wall. "Get up!" Andy demanded.

Mac just lay there and stared at the wall. "So you're refusing to do what I say!" Andy exploded. He went over to Mac and grabbed him by the hands, knowing how sore they must be.

Mac almost yelled out with pain, but instead, he gritted his teeth through the pain and rammed his elbow into Andy's nose. It did not have the result Mac had hoped for, however. It only seemed to make Andy angrier. He glared at Mac with the murder lust of an animal. Mac had seen that look before. He braced himself even though his feet felt like they were swollen twice their size and so sore, he thought he would not be able to keep standing on them.

Andy screamed in rage and lunged at Mac. Mac stepped to the side slightly and brought his elbow down on the back of Andy's neck. Andy hit the floor hard and Mac stared at him a moment. He did not move so Mac went to the gate which was still open. He grimaced at the pain in his feet and tried not to use his hands for anything. He moved slowly down the corridor toward what he thought would be the exit. He hoped those other two men were not there but he had not heard anyone else but Andy.

Mac finally came to a stairway that looked like it led up out of the crypt. He started up the stairs and then he heard Andy yell, "You won't get away from me!"

Mac tried to hurry faster up the stairs. As he reached the top, he realized that it was not daylight outside yet. He did not know what he would do to get away from Andy. He got out the door and closed it. He searched for something to brace it but he could not find anything. He looked around him and he was definitely in a cemetery. He started away from the crypt. He was barefoot because there was no way he could have gotten his shoes on with his feet in the shape they were in.

As Mac was going through the cemetery, he heard the loud squeak of the crypt door as it swung open. "I'm going to kill you, Mac Taylor!" Andy screamed.

Mac thought that scream sounded like it was part animal. It almost made him shiver. He stopped a moment to look and see which way he wanted to go next. He could hear Andy coming through the cemetery. Mac moved over behind a big headstone. He peeped around it and saw Andy run by and stop a moment to look around. Mac leaned on the headstone. His feet were killing him and the ground was wet with dew. He tried to stay silent and get his breathing calmed down. When he thought Andy was far enough away, he moved off to his right, trying to find his way out of the cemetery. As he went, he thought this cemetery was not well-kept. It seemed to be overgrown a bit. He thought it was probably abandoned or nearly so. He knew of abandoned cemeteries in the city.

Mac stopped and hid in a thicket of vines and bushes as he realized Andy had turned and came that way. Mac became still and tried to become part of the environment like he did when he was in the Marines. Of course, when he was in the Marines, he usually had a gilly net, but right now, he just pulled the sweatshirt up over his face so that only his eyes were showing. The sweatsuit he was wearing was black so it blended in well. As he watched Andy searching for him, he wished he could capture him and put him back where he belonged.

Mac felt weary and cold. He thought he must have fever. His head felt horrible and his body ached. He thought of what Andy had said about that missile launcher. He had to admit, he would have shot that plane down but it did not change anything. He had been a kid when that incident happened with Andy's brother. Kids should not be faced with such decisions. It was not his fault that all that happened, it was Bobby Toole's fault and it was Will's fault for getting himself into that and dragging them into it. He had not known what was going on when he went there with Will and Jimmy. When they had walked in, however, he had suspected something was not right. He had even tried to get Will and Jimmy to run and get out of there, but before they could move, Toole had grabbed will and started beating him, thinking that he had the rest of his money.

Mac squeezed his eyes shut trying to shut out that memory. He did not want to start reliving that horror again. He had relived it so many times and had edited it in his mind so many times, it was burned into his memory like so many other things he had lived through in life. He covered his face and tried to stop thinking about it, but then that action even made his hands hurt. He had been through too much with this individual. He had stated that before, that Andy and his family had been through too much, but he had been through too much as well. He might not have lost a brother, but he lost his friends and he lost his confidence in himself for a while too. He had withdrawn from everyone and then had joined the Marines when he was 18. Every time he had started to pull that trigger when he was in the Marines, he had gone back to that moment when he was standing in that hotel room, but he had gotten past it.

Suddenly, Andy was standing right in front of the place Mac was hiding in. "I know you're here somewhere, Mac," he said quietly. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. You really are a coward, hiding out here in the dark."

Mac glared at him. That guy would know what he could do to him if he did not have these sore hands and feet. He just hoped there was not a spider in this place he was in…or a snake. He thought it was too cold for snakes now but spiders…Mac almost shivered at the thought of spiders but he had to stay still or Andy would see him.

Andy was getting angrier by the minute. "Show yourself!" he yelled. "Coward!" He looked around again. "I know you're out here somewhere! The sun will come up soon and I will find you! You couldn't have gotten far on those feet!"

Mac did not move. He just stared at him knowing that Andy was getting angrier. He would lose his composure soon and then maybe he could take advantage of it.

Adam rushed into Jo's office. "I found something!" he said. "I..I mean I think I found something!"

"Just tell me," Jo replied as she stood up.

"Well, I was analyzing all these cemeteries and I got to thinking about the theme that Andy Bedford has been going with, you know, the headless horseman so I went searching and found that there are actually four cemeteries where there is a guy named Ichabod Crane buried there."

Jo stared at what Adam had found. "That could be it," she said.

"And only two of them have a crypt with the numbers three-three-three."

Jo thought she would jump up and down but instead she kissed Adam on the cheek. "I love you, Adam!" she said and headed for the lab.

Adam smiled and then went back to the computer lab. He supposed that was a good thanks.

Jo found Danny, Lindsey and Sheldon in the lab. "We've got something!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Four cemeteries with an Ichabod Crane buried in them, and only two of them have three-three-three in them."

Danny and the others stared at the information a moment. "That could be it," Sheldon declared. "Since his obsession seems to be with the headless horseman now."

"Let's get going!" Jo said.

They all headed for the elevator and Don was coming out as they were going. "You got something?" he asked.

"Yes, we have," Jo said.

They all got into the elevator and headed down as Jo explained everything to Don. "So where is the first one?" Don asked.

"It's on Staten Island," Jo replied.

They went out to the cars and noticed that the sun was starting to come up. They hoped Mac was okay and that they could find him before Andy killed him.

Mac saw the graying of the sky and he wondered where Andy was at the moment. He had thrown a mad fit right there in front of him and Mac had thought he would surely find him, but he had not seen him. Mac looked out of his hiding place as the dark shadows were beginning to become objects. His feet seemed to be even sorer now and his fingers throbbed at the slightest touch. There was no way he could fight Andy in this condition although he had succeeded in getting away from him. He had been weakened by the fever he had been dealing with all night. However, he could not just stay here because he had no way of knowing whether anyone was going to find him.

Mac tried to look all around him before he dared to move. He knew Andy could be out there anywhere. He had to try and walk out of the brush he was in on his knees. It hurt to crawl and hurt to walk. He finally got out and got behind a headstone and looked out to see if he could see Andy again. It made him nervous that he could not see him because he knew Andy would not give up on getting him back. He knew he was out there somewhere and he did not like the fact that he was so quiet. He could not even see the road or anything from where they were and from the looks of the cemetery, it did not look like anyone took much care of it. He would have to expect the guy to bring him to an isolated place so that they would not be disturbed while he tortured him to death.

Mac did not want to be captured again. He could not imagine what Andy would do to him now. He would show no mercy. Mac moved slowly to the side of the headstone he was behind. The daylight had not come completely yet but it was light enough that Andy could see him if he was out in the open and he could see him if he came out in the open too.

As the first ray of sunlight came into the graveyard, Mac was surprised at how it was so bright and made everything look yellow. It was incredibly beautiful even in this dire situation he was in. He was not sure what to do. Andy had done a good job of making sure he could not run away or fight. He had made it out of the crypt but he could not run for a very long time.

Mac waited for what seemed like a long time and then he heard something in the brush. He froze behind the headstone and waited. Then he saw a rabbit come from the brush. He sighed as he tried to relax again. He listened to see if he could hear anything else but there was nothing, not even a bird singing. Then again, it was cold. Mac definitely knew it was cold with his feet…but he thought it was 'too' quiet. He was not sure what to do because he did not want to go back to that torture chamber.

Suddenly, Mac heard a noise that sounded like a footstep. He froze in place and listened and tried to keep his breathing quiet. "Detective Taylor," Andy said in a taunting way. "Where are you? You can't hide forever out here."

Mac thought that sounded too close. He tried not to move at all and tried not to swallow hard. It was so quiet, he knew Andy would hear it if he did. Suddenly, Andy was right in front of him. Mac almost fell backward. He turned and tried to run but he could not move very fast. Andy grabbed him and threw him to the ground, which was not a hard task with Mac in the shape he was in. He kicked Mac in the ribs and kicked him twice more. Mac lay there on the ground trying to get his breath back and trying to get a hold on the pain he was in now.

Then the other two were there. They got Mac up, ignoring his gasps and moans of pain. They made him walk back to the crypt…

"Let's hurry!" Jo exclaimed feeling a sense of urgency.

"Which one first?" Don asked.

Jo hated that decision. The difference could be life or death for Mac. "We'll go to the one on Long Island first," she decided.

They all jumped in the cars and headed for the cemetery. Jo was hoping and praying that she had chosen the right one…


	12. Chapter 12

Mac stared into the insane eyes of Andy Bedford as he walked around him with a whip in his hands. Mac's hands were tied to a bar above his head and had no shirt on. He thought they were just numb now, and he was having to stand on his painful feet and they were tied to the bar at the bottom. Andy held the whip in front of Mac's face. "I'm pretty good with this thing," he said.

Mac glared at him. "It seems that you're good at anything that involves insanity," he said.

"Oh, go ahead and insult me. I don't care." He looked at the whip. "You know who taught me how to use this?" He looked at Mac. "Will did. You might not think it's such a big thing to know, but it was fascinating. I was very young, but I was very attentive and after I was older, I increased my skills remembering what he had said. I knew someday, it might come in handy."

"Why would he teach you something like that?"

"Brothers."

Mac frowned. He could think of a lot better things to teach someone. He watched as Andy walked around behind him. He closed his eyes knowing what was coming. He heard the whip crack and almost jumped but then Andy laughed as he had just cracked it in the air. Mac wished he could get hold of him.

Suddenly, Mac heard the whip again and he felt a sharp, cutting pain across his back. He almost cried out but he did not. Andy paced back and forth, only building up momentum. Mac felt some blood trickling down his back. Then, one of the others came in there to tell him something.

Mac could not hear what he was saying, but it seemed to upset Andy even more. He glared at Mac and swung the whip at him again. Mac cried just a little on that one. Then they took him loose from the bar. "We'll continue this," Andy declared. "Get the van around here," he demanded to one of his helpers.

"Where are we going?" Mac asked.

"Don't you worry about it!" Andy yelled and slapped Mac across the face.

Mac thought he was becoming more unstable but there was no way he could get away from them right now. "They're closing in, aren't they?" he asked.

Andy glared at Mac like a wild animal ready to pounce. "You shut up!" he yelled.

The van arrived and they shoved Mac into it. He groaned and grimaced as he fell on his side in the van. His feet were so sore, he thought he would die. They cuffed his hands to a rung in the bottom of the van. Mac lay there trying to let some of the pain subside but he was looking around him anyway. His feet were at the back doors. He wondered if he could kick them open. He knew it would be excruciating but he would try if he got the opportunity to get someone's attention.

Suddenly, Andy squatted beside him. "We're going to visit our old hometown!" he said.

Mac stared at him. "Chicago?"

"You remember! Of course! That's where all this started, and that's where it's going to end!"

Mac knew if he dragged him off to Chicago, his team might never find him…

Jo and the others were on their way to that cemetery on Staten Island. It seemed to be taking forever to get there. As they were going around a curve, Don noticed a van, and he thought the driver looked an awful lot like Andrew Bedford. Don grabbed his radio. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That looked an awful lot like Andy driving that van!"

"Are you sure?" Jo asked.

Don could not stand to take the chance that it was not. "Go after them, Don!" Jo said. "We'll go on to the cemetery!"

Don whirled his car around, and Danny was with him. "It did look like him," Danny agreed.

Don pressed the gas pedal to the floor and had his siren blasting. "Should we sneak up on them or keep the siren on?" Don asked.

"Turn it off for now and we'll get close enough to see the tag and get a make on it."

Don turned the siren off and they kept after the van and soon saw it in the traffic. "Don't make a spectacle," Danny said. "Get close enough that I can see the tag number."

Don maneuvered his way through the traffic trying not to look conspicuous. They were finally close enough that Danny could see the tag number. He called it in and they waited for a make on the tag. "Stay with him," Danny said as they saw the van turning off on a ramp.

Danny's phone rang. "Messer," he answered.

"Danny, that van was reported stolen a few days ago," Adam said. "It belonged to one of the victims that were in Mac's apartment."

Danny looked at Don. "That's got to be them!" Don exclaimed. "How do we get them stopped without hurting Mac?"

"Let's just follow them until they get where they are going," Danny said.

Danny called Jo and the others and let them know what was going on. Jo wanted to go after them too but someone had to check out the cemetery. If they were leaving, she had to assume that Mac had been there. What if he was still there? Dying? She had to believe that if Mac was left there, he was already dead but they had to know. "We're going on to the cemetery," Jo said. "You stay with them. We'll let you know what we find."

"Will do."

Danny put his phone away. He hated the thought that Mac could be dead or he could be captive in that van.

Mac was lying in the van that Andy was driving. His back ached where those two lashes were. He lay down on his back anyway with his hands above his head to get his feet as close to the back doors as he could. He pretended to be moaning with pain as he pretended to be getting more comfortable. He relaxed a moment as he made sure no one was watching him. He put his feet up to the door and braced himself for the pain he was about to feel. He swallowed hard and then kicked the doors.

Don and Danny were shocked to see the back doors of the van they were following swing open. "Don!" Danny exclaimed. "That has to be him!"

They could see someone's feet. Don turned his siren on…

Andy was raging with anger and hate as he heard the siren come on behind them. "Get him back in here!" he screamed.

One of the men with him went back there to Mac and roughly jerked him back up away from the doors, but when he started to close the doors. Mac kicked him. He closed his eyes as the guy fell out the back door, but he grabbed hold of the door as he screamed with fear.

"Look out!" Danny yelled.

Don could not believe what he was seeing. He thought he guy would fall out that door and be squished in traffic. Danny called in the incident and asked for backup. They could see that whoever was driving that van was driving erratically now. "He's getting mad," Don said. "We have to do something!"

Danny was thinking. He looked at Don. "You ever tried to get from one car to another while going down the road?" he asked.

"No!" Don said. He looked at Danny. "Have you?"

"It's the only way I know to get in there."

"No, no, no. That's crazy! This is not the Dukes of Hazzard! You can't do that! They might have a gun in there!"

Suddenly, there was someone else at the back door trying to help the other guy get back in. "If he gets that guy back in there, they're liable to do anything to Mac!" Danny declared.

"Well…" Don looked at Danny as he pressed the gas and got up beside the van. He swerved and hit the van, which knocked both the men off balanced and almost caused the one hanging on the door to fall off.

"This is not going to be pretty if he falls off," Danny declared.

"I think everyone back there has realized something is going on," Don said. "They have backed off."

"Good. Hit him again!"

Don slammed into the side of the van again and the door swung out in the back. The other side of the van raked across the crash barrier. When that happened, the back door swung back in and rammed the guy hanging on it into the other door on the van. Then he fell off and rolled across the pavement. Cars behind them slammed on their brakes although they were backed off.

Danny called in that incident. "One down," he said.

"He's going to have a headache in the morning," Don said.

In the van, Mac was moaning with pain as the second guy who was still in the van had stomped his sore hand. The guy finally got the doors closed. Mac waited for him to do something else to him, but the guy just went back up to the front and he could hear the man and Andy arguing. Mac had no idea who those people were. All he knew was that they were helping Andy. He could hear the siren behind them, and he knew someone was back there. He just hoped they could get him out of there…


	13. Chapter 13

Jo and the others arrived at the cemetery and found the right crypt but of course, they did not find Mac or anyone else. There was not much evidence anywhere, but they found some blood especially in the "torture" chamber. "What on earth did he do to him?" Jo asked.

Sheldon picked up a bamboo shoot from the floor. "I hope this is not what it looks like," he said as he stared at it and the blood on it.

Jo walked up beside him and looked at it. "Oh, my word," she whispered.

Sheldon looked at her. "He's been torturing Mac."

"Why!" Jo asked.

"He's obviously more unstable than he was before."

"Oh, poor Mac. He must be in that van that Don and Danny are chasing."

"They better not let them get away."

Don and Danny were still hot on the trail of the van, although they did not know how to get it stopped without hurting Mac. Don stepped on the gas and tried to get around the van but Andy saw what he was doing and swerved into the side of Don's car. "Now he's getting cute!" Don said.

"That backup should be getting here!" Danny declared.

"With all this traffic, they have to have time to get up here!"

Don rammed the side of the van again which caused it to scrub along the crash barrier again. Andy almost lost control of the van but he rammed into the front side of Don's car. When that happened, Don's car almost spun sideways but he managed to keep it from doing that and continued after the van. Now, they were barreling down the interstate with beat up cars.

Just then, they heard more sirens coming. "Finally!" Don exclaimed.

The police cars were converging on the area trying to get the van surrounded and slowed down. "When they get this thing stopped, we're going to have to get in there quick," Danny declared. "He will try to finish Mac off."

"You're right," Don agreed.

Danny's phone rang and it was Jo calling. "Yeah!" he answered.

"Danny, Mac is in that van!" Jo said.

"We know! There's a lot going on here, Jo!"

"He's been tortured, Danny!"

"We'll get him!"

Danny put his phone away. "She said Mac's been tortured," he said. "He might not be able to fight or get away."

Finally, the police had the van surrounded. However, Andy was not ready to give in. He swerved into the car beside him and then sped up and rammed into the back of the car in front of him. "That guy's crazy!" Don exclaimed.

"Just don't let him get us all killed!" Danny said, thinking of Lucy and Lindsey.

"I'm going to do my best."

As the police were starting to close in on the van again, Andy suddenly, skidded into the crash barrier. He jerked his seatbelt off and stood up. He looked into the back where Mac was. "We are going to meet again!" he yelled.

Mac thought he would come back there and kill him, but instead, Andy climbed over the other guy in the passenger seat and got out that door.

Don and Danny were out of the car. "Freeze!" Don yelled.

Andy did not freeze. He completely jumped the crash barrier. He barely avoided getting flattened on the other side of the interstate. "You crazy idiot!" Don yelled as he started after him.

Danny jumped into the van where Mac was. He was shocked when he saw Mac's feet and his hands. "Mac!" he said and knelt beside him.

Mac jumped as he first saw Danny but then he just relaxed as he realized he was safe now. Danny saw tears in Mac's eyes. "You're going to be alright," he said as he stared at Mac's hands which had dried blood all over them and so did his feet.

"Get me out of here," Mac said.

"I have to take some pictures, Mac," Danny said. He hated to , but he had to. He took pictures of how Mac was cuffed.

Danny unlocked the cuffs that were holding Mac's hands and then took pictures of his hands and feet. Mac groaned as he turned on his side and held his hands in front of him. "What did he do to you, Mac?" Danny asked.

"Just get me out of here, Danny."

"Paramedics are coming."

Don was after Andy Bedford. Bedford had crossed the other side of the interstate and had run out into a large shopping center area. Don was hot on his trail but he was being more careful going across that interstate. He finally made it across and ran out into the shopping center. He was trying to keep his eyes on Andy but he knew it would be hard if he got into that shopping center around a whole bunch of people. "Stop!" Don yelled.

Andy was running with all his might. He knew if he could get into that large number of people, he could get away because they would lose him. He could blend in and slip out before they knew he was gone.

Don was calling in the situation to get someone to help him and alert the security at the shopping center. He was watching as Andy was running around all the parked cars in the parking lot. He finally got to the doors of one of the stores and stopped a second to look back at Don with a grin.

Don poured on more speed as he watched Andy go into the store. He soon arrived at the door and went inside. He expected to see Andy but he did not see him. Two more police came in behind him. "He's in here somewhere," Don said. "Let's find him."

Don moved up the middle aisle of the store while the other two went in the other two directions. Don came to a woman who worked there. She noticed his weapon, of course. "Did you see a guy come running through here?" Don asked.

The woman shook her head. "No, no one running," she said. "Is the store in danger?"

"Could be, but I think he's more concerned with getting away than kidnapping anyone. Can you lock this store down?"

"Security can."

"Get them to do that."

"Is this an emergency? We can't lock the customers in unless it is an emergency."

"Ma'am, this guy has killed several people and he will kill again if we don't get him."

"I'll call them now."

Don moved on down the next aisle. He could not believe that Andy could move that fast and just disappear. He had to be in the store somewhere. Don knew how he was though. He would do anything to escape and go anywhere. As he neared the end of that aisle, he was starting to get frustrated that Andy had disappeared. He must know exactly where he was going and how to get out.

Danny was helping the paramedics to get Mac out of the van. Mac seemed to be completely out of it now. He seemed to be exhausted. "You're going to be alright," Danny assured him as they were in the ambulance.

"My hands," Mac said.

"They're going to help you."

"I can't stand this pain anymore."

Danny looked at the paramedic. "Can't you give him something for pain?" he asked.

"I'm on the line with the doctor now," the paramedic replied.

Mac grimaced as pains were going through his hands and feet as well as the two places on his back. "He'll come back," he said. "He won't give up."

"Don't worry about that right now," Danny said. "Don is after that guy and he will catch him."

Mac shook his head. "He wants to kill me."

Danny had never seen Mac when he thought they could not catch someone. "Just relax," he said.

Jo, Sheldon and Lindsey were arriving at the scene of the "wreck". "And he got away just like that?" Jo asked.

"Don is searching for him in the shopping center down there now," the officer on the scene replied.

Jo looked toward the shopping center and then back at the officer. "What about Mac? How was he?"

"He's on his way to the hospital in the ambulance. He was awake and talking when they got him out."

Jo was relieved to hear that. She looked at Sheldon and Lindsey. "Let's get this done and get this van back to the lab," she said.

"We have one of the perps," the officer told her and pointed to the guy in cuffs. "He gave up. The other one was back there on the highway. He had fallen out of the van. He has a severe concussion and some broken bones. He's on his way to the hospital too."

"I want to talk to that guy," Jo declared as she headed for the guy sitting on the curb. She walked over to him. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The guy looked up at her and just rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, we're going to figure out who you are!" Jo said. "What did he do to Mac?"

"Hey, I didn't have nothing to do with what he did to that guy," the man said.

"You had plenty to do with it! Don't even try that lie on me."

"He wanted to torture him to death. He tortured him with bamboo shoots and needles and he would have whipped him with a horsewhip more than he did if he hadn't heard that the cops were coming."

Jo glared at the man. She could not believe how he just sat there and told that as though it were nothing. "Where did he intend to take Mac?" she asked.

"He was going to take him back to Chicago. He said that was where it all began and that was where it was going to end."

Jo stared at him a moment. "Chicago?" she asked. She was glad they had found Mac when they did. They might never have found him if Andy had taken him back to Chicago. "Does he have any other hideouts besides that cemetery?"

"Not that I know of. We only helped him there."

Jo thought she would be sick. "Why would you help him?" she asked.

"He paid us."

When they were done there, Jo and Lindsey went back to the lab with the van and Sheldon went to the hospital so he could find out how Mac was. When he walked into the emergency room, Danny was pacing back and forth in the hall. "They won't even let me go back there with him," Danny said.

"I'll find out something," Sheldon said and went through the doors.

Sheldon found out where Mac was and went to that room. He looked at Mac's hands and feet. He hated to think of the pain Mac had endured. He moved up to Mac's head, but Mac was asleep and there was an oxygen mask on his face.

"So how is he, Doctor?" Sheldon asked.

"He's dehydrated and a little hypothermic but he'll be fine," the doctor said. He looked at Mac's hands and then at Sheldon. "This is going to take time to heal."

Sheldon nodded. "Bamboo shoots," he said.

"He also has several places on his feet where it appears he was stuck by needles."

"And right where they would cause the most pain."

The doctor nodded. "I hope you all caught the guy who did this," he said.

"They're searching for him now."

As Mac was waking up, he had forgotten that he had been rescued…or had been abandoned by his attacker. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up but there was a nurse there. "Mr. Taylor, lie down," she said.

Mac stared at her a moment. She could see the fear on his face. "You're okay now," she said. "Lie down."

Mac looked around him and then lay back down. He realized that the nurse was wrapping his hand in bandages. He felt relaxed and sleepy. "Do you want some water?" the nurse asked.

Mac considered that a moment and then shook his head slightly. He felt so sleepy, he just stared until he fell asleep again.

Jo and the others were at the lab. Jo was pacing back and forth. "I cannot believe he escaped!" she exclaimed. "How could he escape?"

"I don't know!" Don declared. "I've been trying to figure that out myself! I keep wondering if I'm an idiot. Did he walk right by me?"

Jo looked at him. "You're not an idiot," she said. "He had to have some sort of plan."

"He knew if he went in there, we wouldn't be able to find him."

"We 'will' find him. In the mean time, I want someone watching Mac's room, twenty-four, seven and they better check every nurse and doctor that goes in that room."

"I already got that," Don said. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to be watching his room myself tonight."

"Good. We have to figure out where this maniac is and what his next move will be so we can stop him for good this time."


	14. Chapter 14

Mac was not aware that Andy had escaped. He was lying in his hospital bed looking out the window at the sky. He felt warm and dry now and his hands and feet were not throbbing at the moment. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Mac said, but his voice was a little hoarse. He cleared his throat a little. "Come in."

The door opened and Don walked in. "Hey," he said and walked over to Mac's bed. "How you feeling?"

Mac did not know how to answer that question. "Better than I was…how long have I been here?"

"Since yesterday."

"I slept that long?"

"Yeah, you were in pretty bad shape."

Mac frowned as he thought of his hands and feet. "I'm sorry about this, Mac," Don said. "I feel like I…"

"This is not your fault," Mac said.

"I'm the one who suggested we go out to my mother's."

Mac stared at him a moment. "It's not your fault."

Don knew Mac did not know yet that Andy had escaped. Mac looked at him, noticing the silence. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked. "Is he dead? In jail? Did he commit suicide?"

Don shook his head. "No," he said.

"No what?"

"He's neither."

Mac absorbed that. "You mean he escaped?" he asked.

Don nodded. "I'm sorry, Mac. He went into that shopping center out there and just disappeared. We even had the place locked down."

Mac blew out a breath. "So I'm under guard, right?"

"Of course. There's no way we're going to let that guy get you again."

"Don, he is as slippery as grease."

Don felt kinda insulted by that. "You think he's going to get by us again?" he asked.

"Hopefully not, but he might wait until I get out of here. He always seems to know what I'm doing and where I'm going."

Don considered that a moment. "Yeah, I gathered that. I would like to know how. I certainly have not been around the guy that I know of."

"He could be anywhere. I'm beginning to think that he disguises himself or something."

"The headless horseman." Don looked down at his hands a moment. "I didn't want to tell you but we had another beheading last night and someone saw the headless horseman."

Mac frowned and stared at Don. "He's doing it again?" he asked.

"Yeah, you know tomorrow is Halloween."

"Right."

Mac thought a moment. He looked at his hands. There was no way he could fight anyone. He was on pain medication right now and he knew if he was not, he would be in severe pain, not to mention his feet. "We have to catch him," he said.

"What do you have in mind? If it's something about you being bait, forget it," Don said.

Mac looked at him with one of his boss looks. "Who's in charge here?"

"Not you at the moment."

"Oh yes I am. As long as I'm the head of that crime lab, I'm in charge and as long as I can think and talk, I will be your boss."

"Mac, you can't make yourself bait. Too many things can go wrong."

"I know that, Don. We can't let him keep killing people because he wants to get to me."

Don was incredulous. "So you want to sacrifice yourself?" he asked. "No way! You're too valuable to this team and this city!"

"Don Flack, I do not want to sacrifice myself, but I am not going to let this maniac keep killing people around this city just because of me."

"So, what do you intend to do?"

Mac shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "There has to be a way to trap him."

"I'll tell you how I would like to trap him. I would like to put him in a cage and not let him out."

"He shouldn't have gotten out the first time."

"Don't I know it! That was just plain negligence. What are they going to do next? Let all those other people get loose?"

Mac shook his head. "He should have been put in a prison and gotten his therapy there."

Just then, someone knocked on the door again. "Come in!" Don said. He had noticed Mac's hoarse throat as they were talking.

A nurse came in to check on Mac and to soak his feet and hands. "It's good to see you awake," she said.

Mac looked at what the nurse was doing. She prepared some water and put some sort of medications in it. Mac looked at her as she came over to the bed to unwrap his hands and feet. "I'll see you later," Don said.

"Okay," Mac replied.

Don left and Mac got his attention back on the nurse who was unwrapping his feet first. They were still swollen but he thought they were not as sore as they were before. However, he thought that was probably attributable to the pain medication.

"Now, sit up on the side of the bed," the nurse said as she finished unwrapping his feet. She lowered the bed so Mac could put his feet in the pan on the floor.

Mac sat up and slowly put his feet in the water. He almost rolled his eyes at himself for thinking that water would be cold. It was very warm and felt good to his feet although he could feel where every pin had gone in. Then he looked at his hands. He knew this was going to be a different story.

The nurse could see that Mac was nervous. "Just relax," she said. "This soaking will feel good."

Mac tried to relax and the unwrapping was not so bad until she got to the bandages that were actually touching the fingers. He tried not to grunt too much or to jerk away. He stared at his fingers as she took the bandages off.

"Don't worry," the nurse, Patty said. "They will heal."

Mac looked at her. "How long?" he asked.

"I don't know but they will heal."

When she had the bandages off, she moved the pan on the tray over in front of Mac. "Now, when you put her hands in this, it is going to burn a little for a few seconds but it will soothe it," Patty said.

Mac stared at her and then looked at the water. He closed his eyes as he put them into the pan. Burn! He thought a little was a big understatement! He almost pulled them out but he wanted to do what he had to do. He felt like the water was boiling his fingers but then the pain subsided and he relaxed. "Will it do that every time?" he asked.

"No. They will get better as we go."

Mac nodded. He had to admit the treatment felt good now that he had gotten past the pain at the start. He looked at his hands in the solution. The fingernails were all black and he could see that the solution was soaking the blood from under the nails. He thought of the fact that the next day was Halloween. Jo had said that she was going to have a Halloween party. He frowned. He supposed he would be here in this hospital unless the doctor let him go home the next day. He had not wanted to go to that party but he thought he wanted to have some fun now. He wanted to be around other people…his friends. He was tired of being alone and he would not admit it to anyone, but he was a little afraid.

When Mac's treatment was done, the nurse wrapped his feet and hands again and then get was back in bed. "When will I get out of here?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," the nurse replied. "It's according to how fast you heal. We have to do two of these treatments a day."

Mac nodded. "No chance I will get out tomorrow, right?"

"You'll have to ask the doctor. Why? You had some plans?"

"Well, one of my friends was having a party and she invited me, but I wasn't going to go but after all this…"

"I understand. Maybe you will be out tomorrow."

The nurse left and then Don came back in. "Well, how was the treatment?" he asked.

"Painful at first," Mac said. "But it felt good."

"I got a call a while ago that someone saw the headless horseman. He was gone in a moment and no one else saw him."

"Who saw him this time?" Mac asked.

"They don't have the person's name yet, but they're working on it. They'll give me more details when they get them."

"Whoever saw him could be the next victim."

"Right."

Mac looked out the window. "We have to figure out some way of catching him," he said thoughtfully. "Tomorrow night, Jo is going to have the Halloween party. Make sure you don't keep it a secret."

Don stared at Mac. "You mean you actually think he would come to that party?" he asked. "You think he would really be that stupid?"

"Don, he wants to prove that he can get by us. He's liable to do anything."

"You think you're going to be out of here tomorrow?"

"I don't know but I'm hoping."

"What is your costume going to be?"

Mac looked at Don and held up his hands. "How about a mummy?" he asked.

Don laughed at that. "I can see that," he said. "You need any help?"

"I don't know if I can walk. You might have to push me in there with a wheelchair."

"Hmmm. Well, I think I will be Darth Vader. I think I'm tall enough."

Mac smiled. "Yeah, I think you are," he said. "I have to be something that will go along with this."

Don nodded. "I'll see what I can find for you. I'll pick you up here and we'll go to that party. I'll make sure and be loud and boisterous about the party and the fact that I'm taking you."

"Good. Get it out as much as you can. I'm sure he'll know it."


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, Mac had his treatments at the hospital and the doctor came in to see him. The doctor was not sure, but he agreed to let Mac go that day on the grounds that he would go to therapy and get his treatments there. "I will," Mac replied. He was not about to tell the doctor that he was going to be on the trail of a serial murderer.

Don Flack came in later. "Mac, we found out who saw the headless horseman yesterday," he said.

"They're not dead, are they?" Mac asked.

"No, but they're just lucky that they stayed with friends last night."

"Who was it?"

Don paused a moment. "It was Reed, Mac."

Mac sat up and stared at Don. "Reed?"

"Yes."

"Is he alright?"

"He's fine, Mac. He didn't give his name when he called in."

"Why not?"

"Probably because of the way you're reacting now."

Mac grabbed his cell phone. "Mac, don't call him," Don said. "He's not a kid anymore."

Mac looked at him. "He's…he's all I have left of Claire. He's not my son, but he's…"

Don could see the hurt and concern on Mac's face. "I know, Mac, but he's fine."

"I'm calling him anyway."

Mac looked up the number in his cell phone and called Reed. "Hello," Reed answered.

"Reed," Mac said. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. I just heard that you were the one who saw the headless horseman yesterday…and last night."

"Yes, I did, and it's not an experience I want to repeat."

"Reed, he is very dangerous and this is not something to take lightly. Where are you?"

"I'm at work. Don't worry, I'm being careful."

"He's already beheaded several people, and he's doing it again because he didn't kill me."

"He's trying to get you to come out and face him?"

"Maybe, but that's not going to happen."

"What if he keeps killing people?"

"We're going to attempt to trap him tonight."

"How? Can I help?"

"Do you have a Halloween costume?"

Reed smiled. "Sure," he said.

"We're going to have a little Halloween party tonight. I'll text you the address. Jo changed the place since we're going to have a lot more people there."

"Okay."

"You be careful. Don't take any chances. Don and I will stop and pick you up tonight."

"Alright."

"See you then."

"Take care of yourself."

"I will."

Mac ended the call and looked at Don. "You didn't want me to know that, did you?" he asked.

"To tell you the truth, no," Don said. "I didn't. Reed didn't want you to know either, but he ought to know that you can hear a whisper across the Mississippi River if it has anything to do with something like this."

Mac scowled at him. "Are you saying I'm nosey or too intense?"

"No. I'm just saying nobody can hide anything from you, even in that lab."

"Who has tried to hide anything from me?"

"Aw, I've known a lot of things that went on without you knowing it."

"Like what?"

"Nothing that had to do with the lab, but personal stuff…lying."

Mac frowned. "Nobody has to lie to me," he said. "I don't lie to you guys."

"I don't lie to you."

"But you don't always tell me everything."

Don smiled slightly. "I guess not."

"As long as you don't compromise a case, you don't have to tell me everything."

"I would never do that."

Mac nodded. "I know. You guys are one of the best teams I ever worked with. You're trustworthy and I know you'll do your job."

"Thanks."

When Mac was released from the hospital, Don drove him to his apartment after they stopped and got some clothes for Mac. "I thought I would bring you here to get ready for the party," Don said as he was pushing Mac down the hall in a wheelchair.

"Well, it's quite a while until time for that," Mac said.

"Yeah, but I wanted you here so I can keep an eye on you. I'm off today and I don't have anything else to do but watch after you."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Okay, bodyguard, I'm ready to get out of this hall."

Don unlocked the apartment door and pushed Mac into the apartment. He locked the door and pushed Mac into the living room. "So, where do you want me to plant you?" Don asked.

Mac felt helpless. He could not walk and he could not push himself around in the wheelchair with his sore hands. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know if I want to be too close to the window. TV?"

"Sure." Don pushed Mac over to the sofa. "You want to lie on the couch? I can help you get over there."

"Yeah. I'm tired."

Don helped Mac to get onto the sofa and gave him a blanket. Mac sighed as he tried to get comfortable again. "You need anything?" Don asked.

"No," Mac replied. "Thanks."

"You need anything, you just holler, now."

"Alright."

Don gave Mac the TV remote. "I'm going to work on my costume," he said. "And I did find a mummy costume. Jo is coming over to help."

"Jo? What is she going to help with?"

"Makeup."

"I don't need makeup. I think I look pale enough without makeup."

"Yeah, but she can make you look even better."

"Whatever."

Don went into his room and looked at his Darth Vader costume that was hanging on his coat rack. He smiled as he remembered dressing up like Darth Vader as a kid. He had always liked dressing up like that. Everybody else was afraid of him especially when he used the voice synthesizer. He would be sure and do that tonight too. He thought that might look pretty cool if he had to chase a bad guy. They would be getting calls to the precinct about Darth Vader chasing someone down the street. He almost laughed at that thought.

Mac turned the TV on, but he did not watch much. He fell asleep under the warm blanket and that couch was a lot more comfortable than that hospital bed had been. Plus, he felt safer there with Don in the next room…

When it was time to get ready for the party, Jo came over to Don's apartment, along with Lindsey. Mac was just waking up. He had been resting well on that couch. "Wake up, sleepy head," Jo said. "It's time for you to join the rest of us and have some fun."

"Are there any leads to Andy?" Mac asked groggily.

"Not yet. Come on."

They helped Mac get into his wheelchair and pushed him into Don's bedroom. Mac looked at the costume he was supposed to wear. "What happened to the mummy?" Mac asked as he stared at the Jedi Knight outfit.

"I thought the mummy wouldn't look right with mine," Don said.

Mac looked at him. "Well, I'm going to look silly as a Jedi Knight sitting in this chair."

"Nah. You're going to be Qui-Gon Jinn."

Mac looked at the wig Don was holding up. "A long wig?" he asked.

"Yeah. He had long hair and you have the green eyes to go along with it. I'll be Darth Vader and we'll just steal the whole party."

"Ha, ha, ha."

Don looked at Jo. "He loves it," he said.

Jo was trying not to laugh. She was dressed as Morticia from the Addams Family. She had on a long, black, form-fitting dress that looked completely like the one from the show. She had her face white and had red lipstick on. "How do you like it?" she asked.

"You look…good," Mac said.

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "What were you going to say?" she asked, seeing that twinkle in his eyes.

Mac smiled. "I was going to say that you looked 'dead', but I thought I would be more polite."

"Oh, you."

Lindsey looked completely like Bonnie Parker from Bonnie and Clyde in her orange-brown dress with a scarf and a hat, all in 1930's style. "Danny will be dressed as Clyde," she said.

"Two of the best-known outlaws in history," Mac said. "You guys are wanting to switch tracks."

Lindsey laughed. "Just for tonight."

"Are you going to wear those clothes under your robe, Mac?" Jo asked.

"I think I'll just wear a sweat suit under it," Mac said. "If you all will excuse me. I have one in my duffle bag there."

Jo and Lindsey left the room and Mac got over on the bed with some help from Don. "I think it will be easier to sit here and change than in that chair," Mac said.

"I'm sure it will," Don agreed. "You need some help or do you want me to leave?"

"Well, you have to get dressed too."

"Yeah."

Mac put his feet on the floor to see how it felt to put a little pressure on them. It stung but it did not hurt as bad as the day before. "Mac, what are you doing?" Don asked as he noticed.

"I thought I would see if I could stand up a while tonight," Mac said.

"We'll be there to help you."

Mac did not want someone having to hover around him all night. He got into the sweat suit and got into the Jedi robe which looked remarkably like the originals from the movie even with the lightsaber that could hang from the belt.

Don got into his costume which was a little more difficult. He stomped into the boots. "Wow, I'm glad I didn't play Darth Vader. I couldn't spend days in this thing," he said.

"I think I would have gotten hot in this," Mac said.

When they were decent, Jo and Lindsey came back in to help Mac get his wig on and get his face fixed. "Are you guys really going to make me look like him?" Mac asked.

"Just be quiet," Jo said. She slid the wig onto Mac's head and then looked at him. "Oh, don't ever let your hair grow out."

Mac looked at her. "Why?"

"Never mind."

Mac realized she was going to put a thin beard on his face. "Well, you want to look the part, don't you?" Jo asked as she saw his look of skepticism.

"Isn't this good enough?" he asked.

"No."

Mac stayed still and let her finish his makeup. Don walked over there with his Darth Vader outfit on. He turned on the voice synthesizer which sounded like Darth Vader breathing. "I am your father," he said.

Mac chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I can see this is going to be quite an evening," he said.

"Oh, you can believe that," Jo replied. "We're going to have a ball."

"And hopefully catch a rat," Don said in Darth Vader's voice.

When Jo was done with Mac, they all headed for the door. "Well, here goes nothing," Mac said. He thought they looked like quite the horror going down the hall with Darth Vader, a Jedi Knight in a wheelchair being pushed by Morticia and Bonnie Parker carrying a fake weapon. "Maybe we won't get arrested before we get there."

Don, Jo and Lindsey laughed. They were just glad Mac was going…


	16. Chapter 16

Mac and his band of outlaws arrived at the party which was at the bar that Andy had been terrorizing, the Cool Beast. Danny, Sheldon, Adam and Jamie met them at the door. "Hey, Mac, looking good!" Adam said as the others were coming in. He was dressed as the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.

Mac stared at Adam a moment. "I didn't want to look scary," Adam said.

"Oh," Mac replied. "Well, I don't guess I look scary either."

Danny was dressed in a pinstripe navy blue suit with a tie and a hat, and he was carrying a shotgun. He put his arm around Lindsey. "Hey, babe," he said. "You going my way?"

"Absolutely, Sugar," Lindsey replied.

Sheldon was dressed as Dracula. "Good evening," he said.

"Now that's scary," Don said in Darth Vader's voice. "The Force will take care of this one."

Sheldon could not help but laugh as Jamie stepped up beside him dressed as Cleopatra. "Hmmm," Don said. "You want to rule the world together?"

Sid came up next with his hair standing on end. "I thought we needed a mad scientist around here," he said.

Mac was laughing at them all. "I can just see us chasing someone down the street like this," he said. "I'll be rolling my wheelchair after you guys yelling, 'Don't lose him!'. I hope no news reporters show up."

Everyone was laughing at that. "They would think it was a fight and might call the police," Danny said.

"Stop," Lindsey said as she was laughing.

"For your information, I am not chasing anyone in this dress," Jo said.

"You can ride on the back of my chair," Mac said.

"Let's go to that bar before we die laughing," Jo said and pushed Mac's chair forward.

They all went over to the bar still laughing at the jokes. Mac looked around the bar at all the weird costumes of all sorts. "I think we're at Mos Eisley Space Port again, Danny," Don said.

"Definitely," Danny said.

"I think this is the best undercover disguise I ever had," Mac said. "Only, I'm surrounded by weirdoes."

"Did you hear that?" Jo asked. "I wouldn't be talking."

"Well, you're a…well, what is she?"

"I could have dressed up as Elvira."

"Your daughter probably wouldn't have wanted to see you in that."

"Probably not."

"What do they have to drink in this joint?" Danny asked as he sat down on a barstool.

Lindsey sat in his lap and hung around his neck. "I don't know, but I hope it's something strong."

"I don't think they've got anything stronger than soda in this bar."

"We don't need anything stronger," Mac pointed out. "If we see that guy around here, we have to get him."

They all got a soda and then decided to spread out around the bar. Jo pushed Mac over to a coffin full of candy. "Do you think a hand is going to come out and grab me if I try to get some of that candy?" Jo asked.

Mac smiled. "I guess you can find out," he said.

"Are you going to catch me when I fall down?"

"Uhm." Mac held up his hands. "I don't think so."

Jo looked at the candy. "Oooh, I just love Kit Kats," she said and reached into the coffin to get some.

"Did you bring a little pumpkin to put your candy in?" Mac asked.

"Oh, shut up."

Mac laughed. "Well, I'm just wondering where you're going to keep that candy."

Jo looked at him. "Are you sure that drink isn't spiked?"

Mac chuckled. "I'm only kidding."

Jo gave Mac a piece of the candy and then they went on to the next table which had all sorts of weird foods that were shaped like various parts of the body. "Oh, my word," Jo said. "I cannot eat any of that. I have seen too much in the crime lab."

"Give me one of those eyeballs there," Mac said with a smile.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. Those gumballs are actually good."

Jo shook her head and gave Mac one of the eyeball gumballs. She watched as Mac shoved it in his mouth and started chewing it. "Ick," Jo said and pushed him further down the table. "You think that guy will actually show up here?"

"I don't know," Mac said. "If he does, I hope you've got a weapon hidden in that outfit somewhere."

"Mac Taylor. I'm sure you've got one hidden in all those layers you're wearing…something besides that lightsaber, that is. How many 'do' you have in there?"

"Don't worry. I've got you covered."

Don walked up beside Mac. "I'll use the Force," he said through the voice synthesizer.

"You're no match for me," Mac replied.

"You don't know the power of the dark side."

"You two are just a couple of clowns," Jo said.

"No, I'm not a clown," Mac replied. "I'm a Jedi Knight."

Jo put her hands on her hips and looked at Mac and Don. "I think he's been hanging around with you too much today," she said to Don.

"Don't look at me," Don said and folded his arms.

Mac rubbed his forehead with his wrist. "I think my pain medication is making me feel stupid," he said.

"I agree," Jo replied.

They went on over to a table when Jo had fixed two plates with some more stuff. They watched around the room as they ate a few snacks. "You think he would actually show up here as the headless horseman?" Jo asked.

"I don't know," Mac replied. "But he might not come alone."

"So someone has to watch after you while the others pursue him if he shows up."

Mac looked at her. "I do have weapons with me," he said.

"Doesn't matter. You're in a wheelchair. You have to have help."

"I suppose you're right."

Soon, the music started and it was loud. Don came over and danced with Jo beside the table as Mac sat there. He could not help but laugh at Don dressed as Darth Vader dancing. Mac watched around the room as people were dancing. He thought if Andy was there and wanted to make a move, he would do it while everyone was moving around and distracted.

All of a sudden, they heard something pop. Mac jerked the weapon out that he had under his robe which was a large knife. The others reached for their weapons too, but then they realized that what they had heard was a release mechanism that triggered a big container full of Halloween confetti. It came floating down over the entire dance floor. Mac put his weapon back before anybody saw it. He thought that confetti was an even worse distraction.

As all that excitement was going on, they heard someone scream. Mac was not sure whether it was just a scream in the party or someone in trouble. People were screaming and laughing and the music was so loud, they could hardly hear anything else. Mac looked at Jo dancing in that tight dress. She could not do any big moves in that dress.

Mac began paying attention to the crowd again. He wished he could stand up to watch from a corner somewhere. He could not see everything from his wheelchair. Suddenly, the music stopped and a loud evil laugh came over the speakers. "Detective Mac Taylor!" the voice said. "Are you looking for me?"

Mac put his hand on his weapon. Jo and Don moved to either side of Mac. They looked around the room as did the others, but they did not see anyone and then the music started again. "How did he do that?" Don asked.

"He's tapped into the system," Mac said. "He could be anywhere."

"He must be watching us."

"He definitely knows we're here."

Danny and the others came over to the table. "Did you see anybody?" Danny asked.

"No," Mac replied.

"I can't believe that guy tapped into the system like that."

"Don't forget how he tapped into the subway system," Adam reminded him. "It was genius and…" He cleared his throat. "I mean, if he could do that, it would be easy for him to tap into this."

"We know that Adam," all the others said together. They were surprised and Adam's mouth dropped open.

"Well, I was just pointing it out."

Mac shook his head. "We appreciate your input, Adam," he said. "You figure out if there's a way to trace back to him."

"I'm on it," Adam said and headed to the van he had parked outside the bar.

"I'll go with him," Sheldon said and went after Adam.

"What about the rest of us?" Danny asked.

"He's got something planned," Mac said.  
"He can't be stupid enough to come right in here."

"He would know that we couldn't just shoot at him in this bar with all these people here."

"And he might use something as a distraction to get to you."

The party was swinging again as all the other people were dancing. "Just try to act normal," Mac said. "But keep your eyes open."

The others spread out again and started enjoying the party again. However, it was short-lived because as everyone was dancing again, suddenly, a horse came through the front door of the bar. It reared and screamed a whinny as it was at the edge of the dance floor. Mac could not believe what he was seeing. It was definitely the headless horseman. Everyone started screaming and moved as the horse began to charge through the crowd and the horseman had a sword in his hand.

There was so much chaos, Mac and the others could not even hope to aim at him to stop him. People were panicking and some were being knocked down into the trail of the horse. Mac glared at Andy knowing that he did not care who he hurt. Suddenly, the horse changed direction and Mac was right in his path.

"NO!" Don yelled. He aimed at Andy and fired as the horse went by him.

The horse changed direction again and went toward the back door which was also open. Danny had his phone calling in the incident. Sid was trying to help some of the people who had been knocked down and one had been hit by the horse. Sheldon came back in because he had seen the horse go into the bar.

Jo was standing beside Mac. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes," Mac said. He looked at Jo. "We have to stop him. He has hurt enough people."

"I agree, but we're not putting you out in the open like this again. If that horse hadn't turned…"

Mac looked at her. "He wants me and I'm tired of him hurting other people trying to get to me."

"Just what do you have in mind?"

"Nothing…yet."


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi, everybody. I just love getting your reviews. :) I hope you will send more and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for reading. miss37**

Two weeks later, Mac could walk again, and no one had seen the headless horseman again since Halloween night. Mac was not sure that made him feel better or not that no one had seen him. His hands were far from being well. Although they were not as sore anymore, the fingernails were coming off and of course, new ones were growing but it would definitely take time for them to be well. He had lost a fingernail before but never all of them.

Mac was sitting in his leather chair waiting for Jo to come and take him to lunch. She had insisted that he needed to get out and stop sitting in his apartment all day. However, Don had insisted that he did not need to be out in public too much because it would give Andy opportunity to kidnap him again. Then Lindsey had said that he could not stay in all the time but that he needed someone with him all the time. But Danny said that he even needed someone to stay at the apartment with him because it was no safer than the outside world. Sheldon said that he certainly did not need to be alone because of his condition and he could not defend himself good enough. Adam had suggested that he should stay at the office during the day even if he could not go out on cases. Mac had sat and listened to them all dictating his life and then he had interrupted and told them that he would do what he wanted and that he did not need them to tell him what to do. They had all stood and waited for him to say something then. He had finally agreed to go out to lunch with Jo, but Don insisted that he was going too as his bodyguard.

Mac did not know where Andy could be or what his intentions could be either but he was sure it was not over. He was just glad he could walk now and did not have to be pushed around in that wheelchair. He had a hard time bathing though because of his hands. Although they were not as sore, if he snagged one of his nails on something, it hurt and of course, his nail beds felt funny because of the condition of his nails.

Mac soon heard someone knocking on the door. He got up and went to the door. "Who's there?" he asked.

"It's me," Jo replied from the other side of the door.

Mac unlocked the door and let Jo in. Since that situation with the dead bodies in his apartment, they had had a locksmith put more locks on the door and had changed all the other locks that Mac already had. He thought they would have barred the door if they could have, but he had drawn the line at that.

"How do you feel?" Jo asked.

"Better," Mac said and held up his still bandaged hands. "They're much better today."

"I'm glad."

"I have to be careful with those nails."

Jo almost cringed at the thought of that. She had had her share of hangnails before and she could not imagine what kind of pain Mac had been through. Don walked in and shut the door. "You guys ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes," Mac replied. "I'm ready to see something besides these four walls."

They went out into the hall, and Don kept his hand on his weapon as they walked to the elevator. Mac noticed it and wondered what Don thought he expected to happen. It made him have more apprehension. He had been nervous in his apartment all day, even though he knew there were people watching.

They went out to Don's car and got in and headed to the restaurant. "So, where are we going?" Mac asked.

"That's a secret till we get there," Don replied.

Mac looked at him. "What? Do you think he's listening to all our conversations?" he asked.

"I don't put anything past him. We're running scans everyday and trying to keep him from knowing what you're doing."

"He will still try something eventually."

"Maybe he's recovering. I'm sure I hit him that night when I shot at him."

"I can't believe he brought that horse in there."

"Killed four people right there and injured twelve. I'm sick of that guy."

"It's hard to believe he hasn't said or done anything for two weeks."

"I think he's just waiting for us to relax," Jo said. "He thinks we will and then he can start something unexpected."

"I just don't understand why Reed saw the headless horseman the last time," Mac said.

"Maybe he just wanted to let you know that he knows about him."

That thought made Mac nervous. He did not want anything to happen to Reed. He stayed in touch with Reed but they did not talk as much as they did at the start. Reed reminded him of Claire and he certainly did not want this maniac to get Reed involved in this situation.

"We have a guy watching the paper where Reed works, Mac," Don said.

"How do you know that Bedford is not already inside?" Mac asked. "How do you know he's not working there?"

"How could he?" Jo asked. "If anyone knows what a suspected murderer looks like, it should be a newspaper room."

Mac had to admit that was true. "But he could be disguised."

"But they're trained to recognize people. I don't think he could get by them like that."

"I don't know, Jo. He hung around for a long time and we had no idea that he was the one who was stalking me. He left his fingerprints and his DNA and he knew they were not in the system."

Jo had to admit this whole situation was eerie. "He's like a ghost."

"Yeah, where did he go after he went through the bar like that?" Don asked. "It's like he can vanish into thin air."

Mac shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "He always has a plan."

They soon arrived at the restaurant which turned out to be a steak house. "Steak?" Mac asked and looked at Jo.

"I thought you would like a big, juicy steak," she said with a smile.

Mac nodded. "I would."

They went inside and Mac thought the smell was wonderful. He could smell steak cooking and onions and peppers and potatoes and anything else one could imagine in a steak house. His mouth watered with the smell. "I hope it doesn't take them long to get it ready," he said.

"It takes as long as it takes," Jo replied.

They got a table and sat down. Mac hated eating in public because his hands were still bandaged and it was hard to use utensils. "I'll cut your meat up for you if you want me to," Jo said. "I don't mind at all."

Mac looked at her. "It 'is' hard to do," he admitted.

"If anyone wants to stare, I'll give them a stare of my own," Don said.

"Did you check out who works here?"

"Yeah. The employees here have been here a long time, no new ones and no one who even resembles Andy Bedford."

"Good."

"There's no way he could know that we were coming here."

"Well, the disturbing part is that he hasn't been seen for two weeks. He must be planning something."

"He's going to have to get through us first."

When their meals came, Mac just stared at the steak a moment. It looked so good, he thought he could just pick it up and eat it like it was. "Let's trade plates for a moment," Jo said.

Mac nodded and let Jo trade their plates. He watched as she cut up that steak so that he could just take each piece and eat it. Then she traded their plates back. "Thanks," Mac said.

"You're welcome," Jo replied.

Mac took a bite of the steak and it was definitely as good as it smelled and tender too. "There are no cases at the lab right now?" he asked.

"Only one," Jo replied. "But Danny and Lindsey are working on that. I think they're pretty close to finding the one who did it."

Mac looked at her. "What was it about?"

Jo chewed a moment and then looked at Mac. "These three women got together and stabbed a guy to death," she said. "He had been the boyfriend of one of them, and the other two helped her kill him because he broke it off with her."

Mac shook his head. "Ridiculous. How did they find out who did it?"

"Well, the guy was stabbed with three different weapons. At first we thought someone just went crazy but then we realized it was three different people. Then we figured it was something to do with his ex-girlfriend since we thought it must be a crime of passion since he was stabbed sixteen times. Overkill."

"And you figured out that she had help."

"Yes, her cousins helped her."

"But they're having trouble proving it?"

"Having trouble getting them to admit it, but we know they did it. We're still waiting for results from DNA tests. It seems that one of them cut herself on the knife she used and her DNA was at the crime scene."

"Oh. Well, it's always that one little mistake, isn't it?"

When they were done eating, they went back out to Don's car. "How about some dessert?" Jo asked.

"I don't think I could eat anymore," Mac replied.

"We can get something and save it for later."

Don stopped at a bakery and Jo got out to go in. "I'll be right back," she said.

Mac leaned back on the seat of the car. "You feeling alright?" Don asked.

Mac nodded. "I'm just wondering why he's been so quiet," he said.

"Jo's probably right. He wants to let us get relaxed, or he just wants to drive us crazy waiting to see what he will do."

"Yeah, probably both."

Jo soon came back to the car and they headed for the crime lab. They intended to keep Mac there the rest of the day. He could think and do paper work whether he was going out to a crime scene or not.

When they arrived, everyone was glad to see Mac there. He went on to his office and looked at the pile of paperwork that was on his desk. "Wow. I can see I've been missed," he said.

"We always have to save something for you," Jo remarked with a smile.

"Right."

Mac went to his desk and sat down. His hands were sore, but he could do a little and sign the paperwork. He picked up the first folder and opened it. He read about the case in that folder. He was amazed at how many cases could come through the lab in two weeks. He had not been at work for two weeks. He had not been able to walk for a whole week and now he just had to let his hands get better.

As Mac was working, a messenger came in and brought him a small box with a pastry in it. Mac smiled as he looked at it. He thought Jo had sent it in there. He thought she must be desperate for him to eat something sweet. He opened the box and noticed that it was a jelly donut. He had not had one of those in a long time. He took a bite of it, and it was very good.

As Mac worked on the paperwork, he finished the donut and then wiped his hands. While he was working, he started to feel tired and he thought his fingers were aching. He rubbed his forehead and realized he was sweating a little and he was starting to feel lightheaded. He looked out of his office and everything was starting to look a little blurry.

Mac stood up and started around his desk but then he felt like the world went around in a circle and he found himself on the floor gasping for air. He could not call for help. He lay there staring at the ceiling trying to keep breathing and thinking that this would be his death. He did not know what was happening.

Sheldon walked out of the lab looking at a report. He shook his head as he saw the results. He started toward Mac's office and he was shocked to see Mac lying in the floor. "Mac!" he yelled and ran that way. He went into the office and dropped what he was working on, on Mac's desk. "Mac!" he said as he knelt beside Mac. He knew immediately what was wrong.

Lindsey was looking out of the lab because she had heard Sheldon yell and saw him run. She ran down there, and Danny was right behind her. "What's going on?" Lindsey asked.

"Get my doctor's kit, now!" Sheldon exclaimed. "He's in anaphylactic shock!"

Lindsey ran back to the lab as Danny knelt beside Mac. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know." Sheldon held Mac's head up slightly. "Mac, look at me!"

Mac knew Sheldon and Danny were beside him but he could not comprehend what they were saying. He was trying to get air. Mac's breathing was loud and labored as Sheldon and Danny watched his tongue swelling before their eyes.

Lindsey came back with the doctor's kit. Sheldon jerked it open and grabbed the respiration kit from it. "Call, nine-one-one," he said.

Once Sheldon eased Mac's breathing a bit, he got a shot of antihistamine and gave it to Mac. He looked at Danny. "He's having an allergic reaction to something," he said.

Jo was there now. "We had lunch today," she said. Then she noticed the box on Mac's desk. "What's this?"

Lindsey looked at it. "Was something delivered to his office?" she asked.

Jo got a plastic glove and got the box. "We better analyze this," she said. "I bought us some pastries but I did not give Mac one."

"It must have been delivered."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "And he thought it was from me?" She looked at Mac. "Andy Bedford!"

Sheldon and Danny looked shocked. "You think he did this?" Danny asked.

"Is Mac allergic to anything?"

"Blueberries," Lindsey said. "I remember he's allergic to blueberries."

"But if he knew this had blueberries in it, he wouldn't eat it."

"Maybe it wasn't enough that he would know it but enough to cause this reaction."

Sheldon looked at Mac. "You hang in there," he said.

Mac thought he could breathe a little easier now but he still felt like he was dying. Danny looked at Mac's arms. "He's breaking out here too," he said.

Sheldon nodded as he pulled Mac's shirt back slightly. "On his neck too."

Soon, the paramedics arrived and so did Don. "What happened!" he exclaimed.

Jo held up the pastry box as they were out in the hall. "We thought he would be safe here," she said. "He knew exactly where we had been."

"He tried to poison him?"

"We're not sure yet but we will certainly find out." Jo headed for the lab with the pastry box. She would analyze it herself.

The paramedics got Mac onto a stretcher and headed out with him. "I'm going with him," Sheldon said.

"You watch everything they do to him," Don said.

"I will and I will write it down too." He grabbed a notebook and followed the paramedics to the elevator.

Don went into the lab along with everyone else. "How did he know?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jo replied. "But I want to find that out."

"Oh, I'm going to find out alright."

"Get Adam to scan the car and everything."

"How would he do something like this?"

"Don, I hate to say it, but maybe he has some sort of contact here in the department."

Don was surprised by that statement. "What? Who would help that maniac?"

"I don't know, but we have to make sure our guard is up from now on. He attacked him right here in his office. He's getting brave and he's getting more subtle in his attacks."

"I'll go to that hospital and make sure no one gets in there to him."

"I'll analyze this box and see what was in here."

"I think I'm going with him," Danny said. "If I see that guy, I'm going to get him this time."

"Just be careful," Jo said.


	18. Chapter 18

Don and Danny arrived at the hospital. "You can't go in there!" one of the nurses exclaimed, as Don and Danny were about to go through the security doors.

"Watch me!" Don said and showed her his badge.

They went on in and found where Mac was and stood outside the door. The head nurse came to them. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"We're guarding this door," Don informed her. "And anybody who tries to go in this door without ID will not get through it. Someone is trying to kill that man in there, and we don't intend to let that happen."

The nurse stared at them a moment realizing that they were serious. "Just don't get in the way and don't go into the room," she said. "This is a sterilized environment."

"Yes, Ma'am. We understand that but we are guarding this man."

After about an hour, Sheldon came from the room where Mac was. "How is he?" Don asked.

Sheldon blew out a breath. "If I hadn't gotten to him when I did, he would be dead right now," he said. "He had a violent reaction."

"How could he eat blueberries and not know it?" Danny asked.

"All I can guess is that they were disguised in something else. It had to be that donut."

Just then, Jo walked in. She was looking angry. "How is he?" she asked.

"He's going to be fine but, he's lucky," Sheldon said.

"I analyzed that box the donut came in." Jo folded her arms. "Andy's fingerprints are all over it, and it contained blueberries, but they must have been masked as cherry."

"Did you find out where the box came from?" Danny asked.

"I sure did. It came from a bakery called 'The Sweet Tooth' and that's where we're fixing to go."

"I'm with you."

"I'm staying here," Don said. "I won't let anyone in this room who's not authorized."

Jo and Danny headed out to the Avalanche. "We have to remember that whoever made that donut might not have known anything about this," Danny said.

"They better know something, because I'm not going to take 'I didn't know' for an answer!" Jo declared.

They went over to the bakery and went inside. Jo walked up to the counter and showed her badge to the person at the counter. "I need to ask you some questions," she said. "And the first instant that I think I'm getting the run-around, someone here is going to be going downtown in handcuffs."

The girl behind the counter stared at her. "What's this about?" she asked.

Jo showed her a picture of Andy Bedford. "Have you seen this man?" she asked. "Be careful how you answer that question."

The girl stared at the picture. "I haven't seen him," she said and looked at Jo. "I'm not the only one who works the counter."

"Are you sure he doesn't work here?"

"I just started working here today."

Jo sighed. "I need to talk to your boss," she said. "Now."

The girl went to the back and soon a man came from the back. He was wearing a white apron and a white chef's hat. "What's going on?" he asked.

Jo showed him the picture. "Have you seen this guy?" she asked.

The man looked at the picture. "Sure," he said. "That's Drew."

"He works here?"

"Yeah. He's been working here about two weeks."

Jo could not believe it. She looked at Danny. "Can you believe that?" she asked.

"Hey, don't you watch the news?" Danny asked. "This guy's face is all over it. He's a murderer!"

The man looked at them. "I don't have much time to watch the news," he said.

"You must look at a newspaper or something," Jo said. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday."

"Yesterday? He didn't come in this morning?"

"No."

"A donut from this shop was delivered to Mac Taylor at the crime lab. It contained blueberries which Mac is very allergic to and it almost killed him. Now, who delivered that and who ordered it."

"I took that order," the girl said. "Someone called and ordered a cherry donut with a hint of blueberries."

"Do you have the address or phone number or anything?"

"He paid with a credit card over the internet."

"You didn't take any information?"

The girl went to the computer on the counter and turned it around so Jo and Danny could see it. "He ordered it over the internet but I confirmed the order when it came in," she said. "He just ordered it special and put it to Mac Taylor."

Jo stared at it. "We need a copy of this," she said. She looked at the boss of the place. "We also need a copy of his application when he started working here."

When Jo and Danny had that information, they looked at the boss whose name was Randy Zandiver. "If he comes in here, you need to call us," Jo said and gave him her card. "I doubt he will come in here because he most likely knows that we've been here by now and that his plan worked."

"You better know that this guy is a dangerous person," Danny said. "Don't let him know that you know anything if he does come in here. He will kill you without even blinking."

The girl stared at them with wide eyes. "You think he will want to kill us?" she asked.

"I don't know. He's already done what he wanted to do here."

"We had no idea," Zandiver said.

"Just let us know if you see him," Jo said.

Jo and Danny left the bakery and went to the Avalanche. "You think he already knows that we are here," Danny asked.

"I'm sure he does," Jo replied. "I would like to get hold of him."

"I think Reed could be in danger too. If that guy wanted to hurt Mac, or lure him out, he would try to get Reed."

Jo considered that a moment. "I don't think he wants to just 'hurt' Mac. He wants to kill him."

"But he would take Reed to get Mac to come out in the open so he could get him that way."

"You may be right. There are just too many angles to this. Every time we're going in one direction, he makes a wild turn and goes in a totally unexpected direction."

"That's the way he is," Danny said. "The last time, he started out calling Mac all the time, then he stole his luggage and sent it back with a bloody t-shirt in it, and then he started trying to date Stella just to get to her. He started sending her weird gifts and then he started sending puzzles with little clues in them, and lured Mac to Chicago. He sabotaged a subway after he killed the guy who drove it. Then when we figured out it was him, he was lying in wait for Mac and kidnapped him. You never know what this guy will do."

"He's definitely a psycho. He doesn't need to have access to the outside at all when we get him again."

"Trouble is, nobody ever sees where he goes."

"He's like a ghost. He wants to be a ghost, or maybe he feels like one. I just wonder where he's staying now. He must have some place to stay."

"Yeah, but if he could work in that bakery and no one recognize him, he could be anywhere."

"Not just anywhere. He has to be somewhere that no one cares who is around or what they're doing."

"I guess it's time to look for some snitches."

They went back to the lab, but Danny headed back to the hospital where Don was sitting outside Mac's room door. Mac was in a hospital room now, and the nurses were checking him every few minutes. "How is he?" Danny asked.

"He's as well as he can be after ingesting something that he is violently allergic to…at least that is what the doctor calls it…violently allergic," Don said.

"I knew he was allergic to blueberries but I didn't know it was that bad."

"Me neither."

"We have to get some snitches to see if anyone knows anything," Danny said.

"I don't want to leave him," Don replied. "If that guy would be bold enough to attack him right there in the lab, he would try it here."

"You may be right but we have to find this guy."

Sheldon came from the room. "So, what's going on?" he asked.

"We found the bakery where the donut came from," Danny said. "He ordered it online and had it sent to Mac at the lab. He had been working at this bakery for two weeks."

"You're kidding," Don said.

"No. That guy who worked there didn't even know him…or so he claims."

"So he's been working there just about ever since his attack at the Halloween party."

"That's what it sounds like."

"Well we have to find someone who has seen this guy or seen something of where he went."

"What about that horse he was riding?" Danny asked. "He had to get that horse from somewhere."

"We've got a lot of work to do." Don stood up and looked at Sheldon. "You're going to watch over him, right?"

"Absolutely," Sheldon said. "No one will get in that room."

"I will have two officers down here in a few minutes. We have to find out some more on this case."

Don got his phone and requested two officers to stand guard at Mac's room and Danny called and got Adam to do a search for anyone who may have rented a black horse. Then they left the hospital. "Let's just take the Avalanche," Danny said.

"Great," Don replied.

They got into the Avalanche and headed over to a nightclub where Don knew a guy. They walked in and Danny looked around at the place. "Do these places always have to be dark?" he asked.

"I guess," Don replied. "They want privacy."

They walked over to the bar where a woman was tending bar. "Hey," Don said. "Where's Jake?"

"He's in the back," the woman replied.

"Can you tell him Don is here?"

"Sure."

Don and Danny waited for Jake to come out. "You think this guy will tell you anything?" Danny asked.

"Sure," Don replied. "And he will keep an ear out and tell me anything he finds out."

Soon a man came from the back of the bar. He had red hair and a mustache and beard and he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "Don Flack," he said. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to greet a friend?" Don asked.

Jake leaned on the bar. "All you ever want is information."

"Right. You got any about this headless horseman?"

"Nobody has seen that guy for a while."

"Does anybody know who the headless horseman is or where he's staying?"

"I've heard that he's been staying over on Staten Island at a cemetery."

"Aw, you know he's not still there."

"Sure," Jake said. "He could be anywhere."

"But you must have some kind of idea where."

"The last I heard, he was staying at that flea bag hotel, The Last Stop."

"It's the last stop alright," Danny remarked.

"If you hear anything else about that guy, let me know," Don said.

"Alright," Jake replied.

Don and Danny left the bar and went to the Avalanche. "I guess we're going over to that flea bag place," Danny said.

"I hope it doesn't really have fleas," Don said.

Danny snickered at that. "I don't know. I don't think I've been there."

"They don't call them flea bag hotels for nothing."

"I wouldn't want to shine an ALS light in there."

"Don't mention it."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi, everybody. I hope you like this chapter and I hope you will send me some reviews. If any of you live on the East coast over there, I hope things are getting better for you. Our prayers are with you. :) miss37**

Don and Danny arrived at the Last Stop. They stood and looked at it a moment. "Are we really going in there?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, we're doing it for Mac," Don said.

"This looks like one of those places where everybody yells 'COPS' and everybody starts running."

Don shook his head as they were walking toward the place. "Watch that flea over there," he said.

Danny looked at him and laughed sarcastically. "That's funny," he said.

"I thought so."

They went inside and it was just as dark and dank as they had expected. There was a door right in front of the one they had come in through but it had a yellow X made of duct tape and a sign that said "Do Not Enter". There was a stairway to the right that looked like everybody just threw all their trash down the stairway rather than look for a garbage can.

"I guess nobody cares about cleanliness here," Danny remarked.

They started up the stairs which creaked under their weight. "I don't know, Danny," Don said. "I just hope we don't fall through these stairs."

They could hear different noises upstairs. They even heard a baby crying. "Who brings a baby into a place like this?" Danny asked.

"Somebody who cares for nothing," Don replied.

They reached the top of the stairs and looked down the hall in front of them. There was also a hall to their left. They could hear loud music playing somewhere and a TV blasting somewhere, and they even heard someone playing a tuba or at least they thought that's what it was. "Who can play a tuba in here with all this going on?" Don asked.

Whoever was playing the tuba broke into a fast song all of a sudden. Don and Danny stopped and looked at each other. "Hey, you never know where Mozart lived before he was famous," Danny said.

Don rolled his eyes. "Please."

"Well, I guess it's better than some loud electric guitar that's played out of tune and halfway on the fritz."

Don listened a moment. "Hey, it's kinda catchy if you listen a little," he said.

"Let's go."

They went on down the hall to the first door and knocked. A woman came to the door. She had a baby in her arms and was bouncing it to the sounds of the tuba which was in another room. Don showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Don Flack," he said. He showed her a picture of Andy. "Have you seen this man?"

The woman looked at the picture. "Yes, I've seen him," she said and looked at Flack. "He's the father of my baby."

Don and Danny were shocked. "The father of your baby?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

"Not the 'real' father. He can't be."

She frowned at them. "No, but he takes care of us."

"Is he here now?" Don asked.

"No," the woman said. "I haven't seen him since yesterday. He said he would come for us when he was ready to move us again."

Just then, someone opened a door down the hall. A man came from the room with a tuba around him. "Is everything alright, Cynthia?" he asked.

"Yes, Dwight," the woman replied. She smiled. "The music soothed the baby. He's going right to sleep."

"Good."

Don and Danny just stood there a moment. "Ma'am," Don said. "I'm afraid you're going to have to come downtown with us."

The woman stared at him a moment. "For what?" she asked. "I take good care of my baby." She held the baby so they could see it. "You can see he is clean and healthy."

Don and Danny looked at the baby. "Yes, Ma'am, we can," Don said. "But do you know that this guy who is the father of your baby is a murderer?"

Cynthia looked shocked. "No, he's not," she said. "He's a gentle human being."

Don looked at Danny. "He seems that way," Danny said. "But he's a murderer. He's killed several people and he's tried to kill our boss, the head of the crime lab."

Cynthia seemed to absorb that. "Mac Taylor," she said.

"Yes. You heard about him?"

"I heard about him on the news. Drew said he was a friend of his and that he wanted to help him." She looked at Don and Danny. "He was doing all that?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Don said. "We have proof. You and your baby could be in danger if he thought you talked to us."

"I can't believe this. I just don't believe it."

"Where did you meet him?"

"I met him at a restaurant that I was working at."

"And you gave that up for this glamorous life?"

Cynthia frowned. "He promised we would have a good life together and that he would take care of my baby like it was his own."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's a murderer," Don said. "We need you to come with us."

"I have to get some things for the baby."

"Go ahead."

Don and Danny stood inside the door while they waited for Cynthia to get some things for the baby. Danny looked around the room. "Well, she keeps this place clean," he said.

"I guess the way a place looks on the outside doesn't always reflect the inside," Don said.

"I guess not."

Soon, the woman had what she needed. She walked into the living room and looked at them a moment. "I'm not under arrest, am I?" she asked.

"No," Don replied. "We just want to make sure you're safe."

"That's not true. You think he will come after me and you can capture him."

"Just come with us, Ma'am."

Don and Danny went outside and put the woman and the baby into the Avalanche. Don looked around them to see if he could see anyone watching them but he knew Bedford would not be that careless. They got into the Avalanche and went back to the precinct.

Jo met them in the squad room. "Are you telling me that this woman has been with him all this time?" she asked.

"We don't know how long she's been with him yet," Danny said. "We have to ask her some more questions, but he's not the real father of her baby…he was just taking on the responsibility."

"Oh, I can't believe it."

"The baby appears to be fine. It's clean and looks healthy."

"Maybe she's a good mother but she doesn't have good judgement if she was with that creep. I'm going to have a talk with her about it too."

Don went into the interrogation room with Cynthia and Jo came in too. They sat down at the table and Jo looked at the baby. "Oh, he's adorable," she said. "How old is he?"

"Four months," Cynthia replied.

"Oh, they're so sweet at that age." Jo looked at her. "How did you get involved with a guy like Andrew Bedford?"

"I met him at the restaurant I worked at. He was charming and he had a nice smile. He made me laugh. I hadn't laughed in months. He was nice to me."

"Did you try to find out anything about him?"

"Like what? You meet someone…are you supposed to look for their criminal record or check the newspapers to see if they're a wanted psychopath?"

Jo could understand that. "No, I guess not. Do you have any idea where he is now?"

"No. I didn't know that he was doing any of that. If you knew him like I do, you wouldn't either."

Jo frowned. She had heard from the others how Drew Bedford had tried to charm Stella Bonasera to get to her and Mac. "Well, it would probably be very dangerous for you now that you know he is the one," Jo said. "If he thought you helped us or told us anything, he would not hesitate to kill you or even your baby."

Cynthia looked terrified. "You can't be serious," she said.

"We need to search your apartment. Have you seen him bring anything unusual home?"

Cynthia shook her head. "No."

"Does he keep weapons?"

"He did have a case and told me that he had some collectable weapons in it."

"May we search your apartment?"

"Why not? We don't have much, but if I'm not going back there, I want my things from there."

"There's no reason why you can't go back after this is over, but I would like to give you a piece of advice," Jo said. "You need to be more careful who you bring into your home around your baby. That little baby is innocent and helpless. You're responsible for his safety. If you go out and bring any kind of man home, you don't know what they could do to that baby. You need to think about that and start putting your baby first instead of your lust."

Don did not say a word. He knew what Jo was saying was right. He had seen too much stuff in his life as a detective. Cynthia was crying now. "You can make a life for you and your baby…a safe life," Jo said.

"We can put you in safe custody until this guy is caught," Don said. "That way, you'll have someone to watch the baby while you work. We can help you get some sort of job working from home so you won't have to go out. There are ways that you can make it without all this."

"I'm sorry," Cynthia said. "I want help."

Jo stood up. "We'll get it for you."

Jo and Don left the interrogation room. "She was charmed by him," Jo said.

"He'll be looking for her," Don replied. "We have to watch out for her and Mac too. This guy is not finished."

Mac was lying in the hospital bed flat of his back. He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He could not believe he was in the hospital again. Sheldon was there. "Hey," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Terrible," Mac said. "What happened?"

"We're not completely sure about all that yet, but did you eat a donut?"

Mac thought a moment. "Yes," he said.

"We found out that Andy had that donut sent to the lab to you and it had blueberries in it."

Mac looked at him. "Blueberries?"

"You're going to be fine, Mac."

"That was why I…"

Sheldon nodded. "You were lucky."

Mac's face still looked slightly swollen and he had a rash on him as well. One of his eyelids was more swollen than the other one and made Mac look like he had a lazy eyelid. "My throat is sore," he said.

"I had to just about force that tube down. Your throat was swollen pretty badly. I didn't know what else to do."

"You saved my life. How can I complain? I just can't believe I'm in the hospital again."

"We're going to do everything we can to find that guy."

"What will he do next?"

"Hopefully he won't get a chance to do anything else. I hope we will find him."

"He's unpredictable and he's getting worse."

"I just hope we can find the right angle and head him off before he changes direction again."


	20. Chapter 20

Jo walked into Mac's room and noticed that he was shifting on the bed. She walked over to the bed. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "I'm itching!" he said.

"Where?"

Mac frowned. "Everywhere!" He held up his hands. "I can't even scratch."

Jo felt sorry for him. "I'll scratch your back if you want me to."

Mac looked at her and considered that. "I would appreciate that if I can turn over." He shifted and finally got turned over onto his stomach.

Jo started scratching his back with her long nails. Mac sighed with relief but then the more she scratched, it seemed, the more he itched. "Stop," Mac said. "Stop."

Jo jerked her hands back. "Am I hurting you?" she asked.

"No. It's making me itch worse."

"I'm sorry."

Just then the nurse walked in with Mac's medications and one of them was a shot. "You're in just the right position," she said. "This has to go in your hip."

"I hope it is going to make me stop itching," Mac said.

"It should help. It's your antihistamine."

"I'll wait in the hall," Jo said and left the room.

Mac waited while the nurse put medications into his IV and changed the bags and then she gave him three shots. One of them hurt but he did not care if it would relieve this itching. He knew when they took effect because he was incredibly sleepy.

Jo came back in when the nurse left. She sat in the chair beside Mac's bed. "Is the itching better?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "I don't think I feel anything," he said.

Jo smiled. "Well, at least you're not itching."

"Anything else about Andy?"

"Oh, you're not going to believe this."

Mac shook his head slightly. He was still lying on his stomach. "I think I would believe anything now," he said.

"Okay. We found where Andy had been staying and we found a woman there who had been staying with him and she had a four month old baby boy. Andy had taken them in and was going to raise the baby as his own."

Mac stared at her a moment. He had to absorb that. "Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not. I definitely gave that woman a talking to. Can you believe she moved in with that creep? She didn't even know him, just met him at the restaurant she worked at."

"And you told her what lousy taste in men she has?"

"I certainly did. We're putting her in a safe house and going to help her get her life going. We think he might come after them when he finds out they are gone…although I am sure he already knows."

"You think this will draw him out?"

"You never know."

Mac sighed. "I can't believe he had a woman and her baby living with him," he said. "What was he thinking? Did he think he was going to kill me and then take them and live happily ever after?"

"What goes through the mind of a murderer?"

"I don't know. I suppose they think they're going to get away with their crimes."

"Probably. Who would do something like that thinking they're going to get caught and sent to prison for the rest of their lives or wind up on death row?"

"That's not exactly what I thought," Jo said. "What was 'she' thinking? She said he was charming and everything."

Mac remembered how Andy had tried to charm Stella. "He is that," he said. "He uses that charm to get what he wants."

"And what did he want that time?"

Mac considered that. "Sex? I don't know. Love?"

"Hmmm, that may be it."

"I guess everyone needs love whether they're evil or not."

"You think he actually had a soft side in his heart for her?"

"Maybe. He risked it."

They pondered that a moment. "You think he will come after her?" Jo asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I don't think he would risk being captured just for that…unless he really is in love with her, but I don't think he would do it until he finishes what he plans to do to me."

"He's not going to do anything else to you," Jo declared. "Over my dead body."

Mac shook his head. "Don't say that," he said. "He would no more care to kill you than he did all those other people."

Jo watched Mac yawn. "Go ahead and rest," she said.

"That medicine makes me sleepy and it makes me feel like my skin is peeling off."

"I guess that's the way allergy medicine is. It gets into that rash and just makes it sore."

Mac did not reply for a moment. His eyes were closed. "It heals it…fast…"

Jo knew he was falling asleep. She looked at her phone as it rang. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo, I found a horse farm that rented a black horse to someone and then it went missing later on," Adam said.

"Where?"

"That horse farm is actually in Central Park."

"Text me that address. I'll talk to you later."

Jo ended the call and called Don. "Flack," he answered.

"Don, we have the name of the horse farm that may have rented that horse to Andrew Bedford and then he probably stole it," Jo said. "I'm going to forward you this address. I want you and Danny to go and check it out. I'm staying here with Mac."

"We'll get on it," Don said.

Don ended the call and went up to the lab to find Danny. "We've got another lead to chase," he said.

"Where to now?" Danny asked as he was taking off his lab coat.

"A horse farm." Don looked at his watch. "It's going to be getting dark out there soon."

"Can you visit a horse farm at night?"

"I don't know. I guess we will find out."

They went out to the Avalanche and headed for the horse farm. "It looks like they would have noticed something odd about this before now," Danny pointed out.

"I think people just don't always pay attention," Don said. "They're too busy."

"If I owned a horse farm and headless corpses were popping up all over the city, I think I would notice if the guy happened to be riding a black horse and someone had stolen one from me."

"Me too, but then again, we're detectives. You know how many people there are in this city and how many times a day they probably rent out horses?"

"But how many get stolen?"

"I don't know. I don't work in that department."

Don and Danny arrived at the horse farm just before dark. They went through the gate since it was not closed yet. They stopped at the first building which looked like a big barn, but it was the office. A man came from the building. "We're closing," he said. "No more rentals today."

"We're not here to rent," Don said and showed the man his badge. "I'm Detective Don Flack."

"I'm Detective Danny Messer. You reported a horse stolen not too long ago?"

"Yes," the man said. "Did you find him?"

"No. Could I ask your name?"

"Steven Stitch. What's this about?"

Danny showed him a picture of Andrew Bedford. "Was this the guy who rented that black horse?" he asked.

Stitch put his glasses on and looked at the picture. "Yes, that's him," he said. He looked at them. "Is he the one who stole Black Beauty?"

"That's the name of the horse?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

"Well, we think he is probably the one who stole the horse."

"I want my horse back. That's not only a valuable horse, but he was my favorite horse as well."

"Did that guy say anything when he was renting the horse?"

"Not that I remember. It was just like any other rental."

Danny looked at his notes. "And it was before Halloween when he rented that horse, and the horse went missing the next night?"

"Yes."

"Okay, thanks."

Don and Danny went back to the Avalanche. "Okay, the first sighting of the headless horseman was only about two blocks from here," Don said.

"That must have been the first night he rented the horse," Danny said. "He used it to make Mac see the headless horseman and then took it back."

"That was pretty spooky."

"He could have been coming from anywhere."

"Well, at least we know where he got the horse. He doesn't have a place to keep the horse, right?"

Danny considered that. "If he still has the horse, he must have somewhere to keep it," he said.

Don thought a moment. "That night Mac and I were in a wreck, I thought…I thought we hit a horse but no one found a horse around there."

Danny shook his head. "He must have moved it before anyone got there. That's all I can think of that he could do."

"Was the horse black?" Danny asked.

Don thought a moment. "I don't even know," he said. "I can't remember."

"Well, it looks like we're at a dead end. We don't have a clue whatsoever as to where he is unless someone calls and says they saw him."

"I hate dead ends."

Danny looked at the grid on the computer. "All the sightings were kinda clustered in one area there," he said. "They were in a radius of that apartment he was living in."

"He knew where he was running to but there's nowhere there for him to keep a horse. He has to have some place to keep that horse."

Danny thought a moment. "Maybe he's keeping it out there in Central Park somewhere," he said. "He could have it hidden out there."

"Why wouldn't he just let the horse go if he was done with it?"

"Who knows if he's done with it?"

"I hope he is. Halloween is over. I'm glad that holiday is only one night."

"You and about everyone else in this city."

"So where do we go now?"

Danny leaned back on the seat. "Beats me," he said. "I guess we just have to wait like we did the last time we dealt with this guy."

Just then, Don's phone rang. "Flack," he answered.

"Detective Flack," Drew Bedford's voice said over the speaker.

Don frowned and Danny looked at the phone. "Bedford?" he said.

"You recognized my voice, Messer!"

"What do you want?" Don asked. "Why don't you turn yourself in before you come in in a body bag?"

"Aw, I wouldn't want to spoil the fun. I just know those brains of yours are trying to figure out what I'm going to do next. You didn't have to take Cynthia. She has nothing to do with this."

"Yeah, but anyone who's with you would be in danger."

"Not her. Why don't you stop harassing her and let her go?"

"She's safe."

"Yeah? Well, you tell Mac that Reed won't be safe much longer. I want him to give himself up to me or I will kill Reed. I know how much he means to Mac."

Don frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see."

The call ended. Don stared at his phone which had that 333 on it. He looked at Danny. "What do you think that meant?" he asked.

"I don't know," Danny said as he turned on the siren. "We better get to Reed and see if he's alright."

"I don't have his number or I would call him."

"We can't let Mac know about this right now."

As Don and Danny arrived at Reed's workplace, they found that he had already left the newspaper and had gone home. Danny raced over to Reed's apartment. Don banged on the door. "Reed!" he yelled. "Open up!"

There was no answer so Don kicked the door in. They went in and found definite signs of a struggle. "He's got him," Danny said.

Don got his phone to call in the incident. "How are we supposed to tell Mac about this?" he asked when he was off the phone.

"It's not going to be easy."


	21. Chapter 21

Jo was still sitting in Mac's room reading a book when her phone rang. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo, are you with Mac?" Danny asked.

"I'm in his room."

"You better go out in the hall."

Jo frowned but she got up and went out into the hall. "What is going on?" she asked.

"He's got Reed," Danny said.

Jo was shocked by that news. "Oh my Lord," she said.

"Are you going to tell Mac?"

Jo put her hand on her face as she pondered that question. "If I don't tell him, he will never forgive me, but if I do tell him, he's going to try and get out of that bed."

"It's up to you but I think you have to tell him. He would never forgive any of us if something happened to Reed and we didn't tell him about this."

"I know." Jo looked in the door at Mac who was still resting. "I'm not going to wake him up to tell him. He's resting. He had his medication a while ago and he's sleeping. That will give y'all more time to try and find him. Are there any leads?"

"We're searching the apartment now," Danny said. "We haven't found anything yet."

"Keep searching and get out the word everywhere for anyone who has seen him to call in."

"We've already done that, but there are so many people in this city that want a minute of attention that you don't know what's real and what isn't."

Jo blew out a breath. "We can't take any chances. If any of the calls sound legitimate or if they are around that area where the murders took place, check them out."

"We will."

"Bye. Keep me informed."

"Bye."

Jo ended the call and looked in at Mac. She could not imagine what his reaction was going to be when he heard about Reed. She would hold off telling him as long as she could. Then a thought crossed her mind. She got her phone and called Adam.

"Adam Ross."

"Adam, get down here to the hospital as soon as you can," Jo said. "I'll tell you what I want you to bring…"

Danny and Sheldon were searching the apartment and Don was there pacing back and forth. "I can't believe this," he said. "No trace of anything to look for this guy."

"Quit walking around my crime scene," Danny said.

Don stopped and folded his arms but he was patting his foot. "I just hope we get a lead soon," he said. "What does he want with Reed?"

"What do you think?" Danny asked. "He wants to get Mac's attention."

"He'll have it if Mac finds this out."

"We can't think about that right now. We have to try to find that maniac."

Jo was waiting for Adam when he arrived at the hospital. "You got everything?" Jo asked.

"Yes," Adam replied. "I have them all sequenced and everything."

"Good."

They went into Mac's room. Mac was still sleeping. Jo opened the closet door quietly so that she would not wake Mac. He was snoring softly so they knew he was asleep. She gave Adam Mac's cell phone and she took his shoes out of the closet and his "detective" pin. They went over to the cot in the room and sat down. "Let's do this quietly so we won't wake him up," Jo said.

"You think this will work?" Adam asked.

"Yes, I think it will work because I know what his reaction will be when he finds out about Reed."

"You think Andy will contact him?"

Jo considered that while she was working on her part of the plan. "He might. If he thought we didn't tell Mac about it, he would," she said. She looked at Adam. "I think that just might be the right way to do this. If he contacts Mac, he will surely try to go after him and maybe we can track Mac right to him."

"You think he will be so stupid as to let us do that?"

"Let's just hope that he won't think of that."

When they were done, Jo put Mac's button back where it was and Adam put his phone on the table beside Mac's bed. "Now, let's just hope our plan works," Jo said.

"I'll go back to the office and monitor everything," Adam replied.

"Thanks, Adam."

Adam left and Jo sat down beside Mac's bed again. She looked at him and watched him sleep a moment. She wished they could find Andy Bedford and get him behind bars where he belonged. He was like chasing a ghost. She had said that before that he was like chasing a ghost. She had never been after anyone that had no clues or leads as to where they were at all. At least they had found that woman he had been living with. So far, he had not said anything about that and he had not attempted to find her that they knew.

Mac took a deep breath and shifted on the bed a little. He felt warm and comfortable and relaxed. He opened his eyes a little and saw Jo sitting beside his bed. She was looking at a magazine. He thought he was tired of lying on his stomach. He had a hard time turning over because of his hands. He could not put much pressure on them because they still hurt when he did. Some of the nails had not come off yet and the others were still tender because the new nails had not grown up. He knew that would take a while because fingernails only grew up to 4 inches a year. It could take him up to six months to grow his nails back especially at his age.

Jo looked up from her magazine and noticed that Mac was awake. "Hi," she said and moved closer to him. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah, but I'm tired of lying on my stomach," Mac said.

"Do you need help turning over?"

Mac considered that. "I think maybe I can do it although it's not easy."

"I'll help you if I can."

"Just help keep these IV tubes from getting tangled around me."

"Got it."

Mac finally got turned over and Jo fixed the IV tubes. "You comfortable now?" Jo asked.

Mac felt tired even from doing that. "I think I'm out of shape or something," he said. "I just feel tired."

"It's the medicines you've been taking and the ones you're on now."

Mac shook his head. "What is he going to do next?" he wondered.

Jo frowned and sat down in the chair. Mac looked at her as he noticed the silence and her expression. "What is going on?" he asked. "Has he done something else?"

"Do we have to talk about that right now?" Jo asked.

"If he's done something we do. Tell me, Jo. Don't try to keep things from me."

"I just don't want you to lie here worrying."

"Jo."

Jo looked at him a moment and started to say something and then her phone rang. She got the phone off her side and went over to the door. "Hello," she answered.

Mac lay there wondering what Andy had done now. He turned the TV on and found the news channel but he did not see anything there about Andy or anything about the headless horseman. Then his phone rang. He got it off the table beside his bed and answered it, "Taylor."

"Hi, Mac," Andy said.

Mac frowned. "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering if you knew yet."

"Knew what?"

"Oh, I can see you don't know yet. I can't believe they would keep something like this from you."

Mac looked toward Jo. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I want us to meet, Mac," Drew said. "You're either going to meet me where I choose or…well, I'm sure Jo will fill you in. We'll meet where it all began…and don't bring anyone with you. If anyone comes with you…I'm sure you can figure out what will happen."

"Just tell me, you…"

"No, no name calling."

Mac could not imagine what Andy was doing. "You coward," he said. "When we meet again, you won't be walking away."

"Is that a threat?" Andy asked.

"It sure is. Whatever you have planned, I'll be ready for you, and I'm not meeting you anywhere!"

"Don't you want to get this settled? Oh, don't you want to save someone's life?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who's the closest to you, Mac Taylor?" Andy whispered. "I won't give you any more clues…but you better meet me where it all began on Saturday, or…someone that you care about will die."

Mac heard the call end. He looked at his phone and then looked at Jo. "Jo!" he said sternly.

Jo turned around and looked at Mac. She was still on the phone. She could tell by the look on his face that he knew something. "I'll call you back," she said and ended the call.

Mac stared at her as she walked over to the bed. "You want to tell me something?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Jo asked.

"Drew Bedford just called me," Mac said. "He said you know something that I don't know, now what is it?"

Jo frowned and sat down in the chair. "I was going to tell you, Mac," she said.

"Tell me what?" Mac was starting to get very upset. "I want to know now!"

Jo looked at him. His face seemed to be redder than normal and it still looked at little swollen but not as badly as before. "He kidnapped Reed," she said.

Jo thought Mac would jump completely out of the bed. "What!" he exploded as he sat up so suddenly that he almost jerked his IV.

"Mac, just calm down," she said.

"I will not calm down! When were you going to tell me this?"

Jo was surprised that Mac pulled the IV out of his arm and got out of the bed. "Mac, what are you doing?" she asked.

Mac grabbed the back of the hospital gown and went over to the closet. "If you think I'm going to lie here in this hospital while he kills Reed, you've got another thought coming," he declared.

"Mac, you can't just go out there on your own!" Jo said. "You could have another reaction if you don't get your treatment for the allergy."

Mac ignored that statement and went over to the bed. "Turn around!" he demanded.

Jo turned around and faced the door. "Mac, what are you going to do?" she asked.

Mac did not answer that. He got dressed, not knowing Jo's plan. He grabbed his cell phone and started out the door. "Mac!" Jo said as she stopped him. "You cannot go after him alone."

"Watch me," Mac said. "Take your hand off me."

"Mac, let us help you."

"He'll kill Reed if anybody else is with me."

"Mac, we can track you."

"Leave me alone, Jo. Reed is all I have left of Claire, and Andy knows that. He's doing this to hurt me, to make it personal."

"Mac, it has been personal from the beginning!"

"Just don't try to tell me what to do, Jo."

Mac went out the door even though he still felt a little sleepy from his medicine. "Where are you going?" the nurse asked as she saw Mac come out of his room.

Mac just looked at her but did not say anything. Jo came out after him. "Mac!" she called. "Mac, wait!"

Mac was not waiting anymore. He kept on walking and went to the elevator. Jo followed him into the elevator. "Mac, how do you think you can fight that guy with your hands like that?" she asked.

"Let me worry about that," Mac said.

"Mac Taylor, you can't leave us out of this."

Mac left the elevator as they reached the lobby. "Watch me," he said.

Jo followed Mac outside where he hailed a cab. "Mac, listen to me!" Jo said. "He's just trying to lure you out!"

Mac looked at her. "Jo! Reed is all I have left of Claire! Don't you understand that?"

Jo could see tears in Mac's eyes. "But if you get killed, how do you think that is going to help him or you?"

"I won't!"

Jo watched Mac get into the cab. She wanted to stop him, but it would be like trying to stop a bulldozer. She grabbed her phone and called Danny to let them know what was going on. "I don't know what he told Mac," she said. "All I know is, Mac left this hospital on a mission! He knows that Drew has Reed!"

"He called him," Danny said and rubbed his hair back. "No clue at all as to where he is going?"

"No, but Adam and I have a way of finding out…"


	22. Chapter 22

**HI, everybody. :) Thanks for all the reviews and for reading my stories. I hope you will all send a review. :) miss37**

Mac went to his apartment. He was not going to wear what he had on for this. He had a plan for his hands too although any impact he made was going to be shear pain. He could at least try to keep any damage from being done if he had to fight and he supposed he would. He put on jeans, and a long-sleeved t-shirt over his t-shirt. He decided to wear some different shoes too. He grabbed his leather jacket and the stared at his detective pin. He was not a detective today so he did not need that. He got his cell phone but he turned it off and opened it to take the battery out. As he was doing that, he noticed a wire in the phone and realized that someone had wired his phone to track him. He started to rip it out, thinking that it was Andy who must have done it, but then he realized that there would have been no way that he could have gotten his phone. "Jo," he said. He stared at the wire. He knew what they were trying to do. He closed the phone back, leaving the wire in and the battery. He did not want them to endanger Reed's life and he knew they would do their best not to do that.

Mac went into the bathroom and put thick band-aids around his fingernails which was not a pleasant experience, however it would help them not to be ripped out. Next he wrapped his hands again with the bandages. Then he went into his room and grabbed his gloves…not plastic gloves this time. He got his personal weapon from his closet and left his police-issue weapon in its place. He also put on his ankle gun and his combat knife. He intended to have some surprises for Andy if they got into battle.

As Mac was leaving his apartment, Jo was coming down the hall. She realized he did not have his detective pin on, nor did he have on the same shoes. "Mac, you can't go!" she declared.

Mac looked at her with one of his haughty looks. "And just how do you intend to stop me?" he asked.

Jo folded her arms. "You are the most stubborn man I have ever seen."

"Thanks."

Mac went around her and headed for the elevator. "Mac, will you just listen?" Jo asked as she followed him.

"Listen to what, Jo?" Mac asked. "I know you have a wire in my phone so you can track me."

Jo was surprised by that. "How do you know it?"

"I'm a detective."

Mac pressed the down button on the elevator. He looked at Jo. "Don't follow me," he said. "If you follow me, I will pull the wire out."

Jo stared at him a moment. "There's just no way to stop you, is there?"

"No."

The elevator opened and Mac walked in with Jo right behind him. "There has to be another way to do this," Jo said.

"There's not," Mac said, flatly. "The only way to stop Andy is to meet him face to face. He always has an escape plan and he has a backup plan after that. You can't fool him, Jo."

"You could at least have a backup plan of your own!"

Mac looked into Jo's eyes then and saw how sincere she was. He wavered just a little in his resolve. "I know you all care about me, Jo," he said. "But I don't want anything to happen to Reed. Can you understand that?"

"Of course I do, but we don't want anything to happen to you either, and just because you go alone is no guarantee that nothing will happen to Reed."

"I have to, Jo."

The elevator doors opened and they walked out of the building. Mac looked at Jo. "Don't worry," he said. "I've outsmarted him before."

"But that was with the help of your team too," Jo said. "At least tell me where you're going."

"Where it all began."

Mac hailed a cab and was gone. Jo stood there watching the cab leave. "Where it all began?" she thought. "What does that mean?" She thought Don and the others would probably know what that meant.

Mac went to the airport and got a flight to Chicago. He waited while his ticket was prepared and thought about his situation. He would have to go back to that hotel room where all this horror started all those years ago. He remembered going back there with Flack. "There you are, Sir," the woman at the desk said.

Mac looked at her and took his plane ticket. "Thanks," he said and walked away to go to the right gate. He thought about where he was going as he was walking through the crowd of people in the airport and not really seeing what was going around him. He could not even count how many times he had relived that night that Will was beaten to death. He could not count how many times he had thought of different ways that he might have done something to stop it. He even remembered lying and staring up at the stars when he was in the war and that situation crossed his mind. He supposed when one was in a situation like a war, they thought back over the things that had happened in their life. When everything was still and quiet, there was nothing to do but think if one was not on duty.

Mac sighed as he reached the gate for his flight. He sat down in a chair and stared out the window. He hated flying. It was the only way he could get to Chicago quickly though. Just then, his phone rang. He looked at it, realizing that he had turned it back on after he got through security without even thinking about it. He thought he might as well have it on. The number on the phone was 333. Why did he have to use that stupid number?

"Hello," Mac said with a frown.

"Mac," Drew said. "Are you on your way?"

"I'm sure you know."

"Well, before you come to our meeting place, I have another stop that I want you to go to."

"Like where?"

"I'll tell you when you land in Chicago."

"And just how are you going to know that?"

"Oh, I know what flight you're about to get on and I'll know when it arrives."

Mac was starting to get the creeps. He felt like that guy was watching him all the time or tracking him somehow. "How do you know?" he asked.

"Don't ask questions, just do what you're told."

Mac glared out the window. "I'm not taking orders from you," he said.

"You will or Reed here will not survive until you get here."

Mac swallowed his anger. "Fine," he said. "But when we meet, you're going to let him go."

"We'll see about that…you really care about him, don't you?"

Mac frowned. "You know I do," he said.

"Then I have you."

Mac heard the call end. He felt angrier than he had ever felt during this whole situation. He would do what Andy wanted…until he got Reed to safety…then he intended to end Andy's suffering.

"What do you mean he left?" Don asked as he was talking on the phone to Jo.

"He got up and left!" Jo said. "I couldn't stop him."

"Where is he going?"

"All he would say was that he was going to where it all began. What does that mean?"

Don thought a moment. "He's going to Chicago," he said. "We have to do something about this."

"Like what? What are you going to do? Tie him up?"

"I would if I could."

Jo shook her head. "That is not the way. Besides, Adam and I tagged him so we could track him."

Don was silent a moment. "You tagged him? How?"

"Well, he eliminated two of the tags but he still has one in his cell phone."

"So, Adam is tracking him?"

"Yes, but that doesn't tell us how to help him. If he's not in on it, we could cause his death or Reed's."

"Just let me go," Don said. "If it's only one of us, maybe things will work out better."

Jo considered that. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll go to Chicago."

"We're all going to Chicago, but maybe you're right about only one of us being 'out' there."

"As long as you have that tracker on him, we can at least know where he is and I can keep up with him."

"Okay. Let's get this ball rolling before it's too late."

"I'm on my way home now."

Mac was standing in line to board the plane. He frowned as he thought of where he was going. He did not feel well and definitely did not feel up to his full strength. He looked at his hands which were wrapped and gloved. He gave the flight attendant his ticket for the flight and then went onboard to find his seat. He had not brought any luggage because he figured he was not going to need anything.

Mac found his seat and sat down and buckled his seatbelt. He stared out the window. The sky was a little cloudy today as it always usually was when Fall came and Winter was right around the corner. There was always a cold front lingering around somewhere. The sun was going down already so the sky was orange and red and pink now but the clouds were still there. He figured it was even cloudier in Chicago, but he knew it was cold there and with the wind blowing. He shivered thinking about it. He remembered those cold winters where the snow was so deep that if one went outside, it was like marching because the snow was all the way up to the knees…or deeper. He had seen it so deep that it covered part of the window in the house.

Mac leaned on the window and thought about those days when he was a little boy in that warm house with his mother and father. His father would roast chestnuts beside the fireplace. He always liked hearing them pop as they cooked. It was freezing outside but they were cozy in the house. His dad would tell him stories about being in World War 2 and how cold it was…so cold that their feet felt like clumps on the end of their legs and some people even got frost bite and lost toes and sometimes feet too. He had told him about when he was a boy and the snow was so deep that he could not even get to the barn to milk the cow or gather the eggs. He had talked about how his father used snowshoes to get over to the barn, but he always kept a pile of firewood in the house.

Mac felt miserable as he remembered those days. He had a happy life as a kid…until…

"Excuse me," someone said.

Mac looked around to see a woman sitting in the middle seat of the plane. "You're in my seat," she said.

Mac scowled. He was sure he had the window seat, but when he looked at the seat numbers, he realized he had read them wrong. "I'm sorry," he said. "I…" He did not even finish the sentence. He just got out so she could get to her seat. He wished he was in the window seat so he could look out the window. He wiped his eyes and folded his arms and tried to stop thinking about what he had been thinking about.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked.

Mac looked at her. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

"Oh, just wondering. You look awfully sad."

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"Nothing you want to talk about to a perfect stranger?"

"No, I don't think so." Mac wished he was beside the window. He felt like everyone was staring at him. He knew he must still have some of that rash and he thought he probably had dark circles under his eyes and he was wearing gloves. He thought he was starting to itch too. He thought Andy might not have to kill him…he might die from that allergy if all that rash and everything came back. He did not think it could come back like that though since he had had that antihistamine so many times. He thought he would probably have the rash again though. Rashes were a different story. He remembered when he was young…he was allergic to an antibiotic and had broke out all over. He hated that and the itching. This allergy he had this time was totally different, however. He could have died…he was just glad Sheldon had been there and had seen him.

Mac tried not to think about his situation as the plane began to taxi down the runway. He was on his way now…and he had no idea what would happen when he got there…


	23. Chapter 23

Mac's plane landed in Chicago two hours later but it was only one hour later since Chicago was one hour behind New York. He got off the plane and walked out of the airport. He felt so alone but he thought of Reed out there somewhere and wondered how Andy had gotten him to Chicago. Mac frowned. It could not have been a pleasant experience.

Mac got a cab and just as he was about to get in, his phone rang. He got an eerie feeling that it was Andy calling. He waved the cab on and took his phone off his side. Sure enough, it was that 333. "Taylor," he said as he put the phone to his ear.

"You arrived," Andy said.

Mac hated that inflection he put on everything as though he could see everything that was happening. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm going to text you an address. Go there and do what the instructions say."

The call ended. Mac frowned as he looked at his phone and waited for the text. He did not know why that moron did not want him to just go to the hotel so they could get this over with. His phone soon rang with the text message. He looked at the address which was an old hotel…or that was what it was when Mac lived in Chicago. He could not imagine what it must look like by now if it was still there.

Mac got a cab and told the cab driver the address. The cab driver looked around at him. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"No, but that's the address I was given," Mac said.

"Alright."

Mac sighed as they pulled away from the curb. He started to scratch his neck and chest. He was itching again now. He could feel the rash on his chest without even looking and it felt kinda hot. He touched his weapon on his side. He had to leave those with the pilot on his way over here. He felt more nervous than he usually felt. He wondered if it was those medicines he had been taking. He just wanted this situation to be over. He thought maybe he would take a long vacation.

When Mac arrived at the address, he could see why the cab driver had been so skeptical. "Are you sure you want out here?" the driver asked.

"Yes," Mac said and got out. The place he was at was dark and abandoned and so were some of the places around it. He looked up at the building as the cab pulled away. He had to wonder why Andy wanted him to come here. The building next door had a few lights on in it and he could see someone standing and looking out one of the windows. He would have wondered if it was Andy but he could see that it was a woman.

Mac went on into the building which looked like no one had been in it…probably longer than anyone cared to say. It was dusty and seemed to be falling apart. There were countless cobwebs everywhere and the floor creaked and popped as he walked across it. He finally saw a flicker somewhere down the dark, dusty hall. He walked slowly toward it as he took his weapon from the holster. He finally came to a room with candles in it. Mac stared around him, but he did not see anyone around or hear anything. He examined the doorway to make sure it was not booby trapped, although he was sure Andy did not intend to do anything to him here. He wanted to do it at that hotel where all this started.

Mac walked into the room which contained an ancient dresser that looked like it had plenty of rats using it for a hotel. However, there was a cot in the room that looked like it had just been put there. There was a pair of coveralls on the bed and a cell phone. Mac frowned. He noticed a note lying beside the clothes. He picked it up. "Just change into the coveralls and leave your other stuff here as well as your cell phone," the note said. "I'm sure they want to trace you. Don't bring anything with you."

Mac glared at the note. He must think he was crazy if he thought he was coming down there with nothing. He did not intend to change clothes either. He checked his weapon and then walked out of the room, but then he heard the cell phone ringing. He turned back and got the phone. "Hello," he said.

"Mac, are you doing what the note said?" Andy asked.

"You're crazy," Mac said. "If you want to meet me, let's get it over with."

"If you're going to bring all that stuff with you that they can trace and find you, I'm not going to meet you. I'll just kill Reed here."

"Let me talk to him."

Mac waited a moment and then he heard Reed say, "Mac, don't you come to this maniac."

"Reed, are you alright?"

"Yes!"

"You better do what I say," Andy said. "Or you won't see him alive again!"

"If you hurt him, I will kill you. I don't care if I have to spend time in prison, I will kill you."

"Come on then. I want to see you pull the trigger."

Mac threw the cell phone at the wall. He was tired of this situation. He turned and walked out of the room and headed out of the place. He thought this had been a waste of time unless Andy just did it to make him angrier. He was definitely angry. That guy was not going to get away with this again.

Just then, Mac's phone rang again. "What!" he said.

"Oooh, temper, temper," Andy said tauntingly.

"What do you want?"

"How many of your friends do you have lurking around?"

"None! I did not bring anyone with me!"

"They have you wired, don't they?"

"I don't care about that! I want Reed! Now, you're going to release him or so help me…"

"Don't threaten me, Mac. I'm the one in control here. You're forgetting that he's with me."

Mac felt hot all over. He thought this stress was causing his rash to pop out. "When I get my hands on you, you won't be able to…" Mac stopped as he was almost to the front door and two men walked in.

"What is it, Mac?" Andy asked. "You meeting up with some unexpected guests?"

Mac frowned. "Are you afraid to face me on your own?" he asked.

Suddenly, Andy came from another area of the place and he had Reed with him. Mac thought his blood would boil over. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to give you a choice, Mac," Andy said. He moved Reed over further into Mac's line of sight. He smiled a smirky smile at Mac. "You having some problems?" he asked as he noticed the rash on Mac.

Mac glared at him. "Why are you hiding behind him?" he asked.

"I'm going to see where your loyalty lies. Do you want to help Reed here or do you want to get me?"

Mac frowned. "What do you mean?"

Andy laughed. "You still don't get it, do you?" He jerked the tape off of Reed's mouth and he was holding a gun on him.

Andy kept the gun aimed at Reed as he moved toward the door of the place. Mac watched him. "Take off your weapons, Mac," Andy said.

Mac frowned and looked at him. "Are you going to put yours down?" he asked.

Andy pulled the hammer back on the gun he was holding. "Are you going to keep asking questions?"

Mac took his gun from the holster under his jacket. "Give it to Roy there," Andy said.

Roy walked over to Mac and took the weapon. "Now, give him the ankle gun," Andy said.

Mac was surprised that he knew about that gun. "How did you know about that one?" he asked.

"Do you think I would get myself in this situation and not know my enemy?"

Mac reluctantly took the gun from his ankle holster and gave it to Roy. He hoped Andy did not know about the combat knife. Roy gave the guns to Andy. Mac was still wondering what he was about to do. Andy gestured to the other guy and he moved over to Reed. He untied Reed's hands.

Mac was waiting to see what would happen when Andy aimed the gun at him. "Catch me if you can," Andy said. "Me or Reed?"

Mac watched as Andy ran out the door and the other two grabbed Reed. Everything was in action as one of them hit Reed in the stomach. Mac ran over to them and grabbed the other one from behind. He elbowed Mac in the ribs which caused him to lose his grip. He turned and grabbed Mac by the collars and shoved him into the wall. The wall was practically falling apart so Mac's back sank into it and caused the attacker to lose his balance. Mac got his foot up and shoved the man backward. He looked toward Reed who was fighting with the other attacker.

Roy, who was the one fighting with Mac, was not finished yet. He got to his feet and came at Mac again and tackled him. Mac got his arm around in front of him and elbowed the guy in the nose which knocked him backward. He grabbed a piece of wood from the floor and swung it at Mac.

Mac barely avoided the piece of wood. The man swung it at him again. Without thinking, Mac grabbed it which sent pains through his hands. He grunted slightly but he did not have time to think about it. He held the piece of wood and twisted it out of Roy's hands. He swung the wood at Roy, but he ducked too but Mac came back up with it in the opposite direction and slammed it into the man's face and knocked him backward. He was addled, so Mac threw the piece of wood down and headed for the fight Reed was in, but he was holding his own and knocked his attacker down.

"You alright?" Mac asked.

"I'm fine," Reed replied as he was slinging his hand. "Let's get out of here."

They went out the door. Mac looked at Reed and gave him his phone. "Call Jo Danville and tell her what happened here," he said.

"What are you going to do?" Reed asked.

"I have to find him!"

Mac started running. He realized he was not far from the hotel where Will Bedford was beaten to death. He knew that must be where Andy was going. He headed that way…

"I'm on my way there now!" Don said.

"The tracker has stopped there," Jo declared. "It hasn't moved from that location."

Don was on his way to the old hotel where Mac's phone was still located. He had no idea what was happening. When he arrived, Jo was calling him back. "Yeah!" Don answered.

"Reed just called, Don," Jo said. "He's there where you are. He has Mac's phone."

"Then where is Mac?"

Don got out of the car and ran over to Reed. "Where is Mac?" Don asked.

"He's gone after that guy!" Reed replied.

"You alright?"

"I'll be fine. Mac needs help. That guy is crazy!"

"Look," Don said. "I want you to call this in and when the police get here, you tell them what is going on."

Don ran back to the car and headed for the hotel. He knew that had to be where Mac and Andy were going…

Mac ran all the way to the hotel and found room 333. The door was open slightly. "Come on in, Mac!" Andy said from inside. "I'm surprised you got out so soon!"

Mac pushed the door open and Andy was standing with a weapon in his hand. "Give up," he said.

"No way! You come on in here."

Mac glared at him. "You know you're through," he said. "There are people who know what's going on here."

Andy pulled the hammer back on the weapon. "Come on in here, Mac," he said.

"Why? So you can shoot me?"

Mac moved into the room. He wanted to get Andy on his own. This man had caused him too much trouble. "So what now?" Mac asked.

Andy moved over to the other side of the room. "You remember where the gun was that night?" he asked.

Mac stared at him. "Stop this, now," he said.

Andy threw his gun onto the bed. "Now, let's see who can get it first," he said.

Mac frowned and looked at the gun on the bed and then at Andy. "Why?" he asked.

"Because one of us has to die before this can ever end. Does it really matter which?"

"Nobody has to die! Do you think Will would want you to do this?"

"Don't pretend that you cared about Will! You let him die! You had that gun in your hands and you just stood there!"

"I was fourteen years old!"

"You were old enough!"

Suddenly, Andy dove for the gun, and Mac sprang into action too. They both grabbed the gun at the same time and struggled over it. Andy kicked Mac in the shin but Mac was incredibly angry now. He ignored his pain and jerked Andy right into his elbow and then knocked him off the bed.

Mac stood up and pulled the hammer back on the gun as he aimed it at Andy. "Stop!" he yelled as he glared at Andy.

"Shoot me! Shoot me!" Andy screamed.

Mac's hand shook as he remembered holding that gun aiming it at Bobby Toole's back. "Shoot him! Shoot him!" Jimmy had cried at him.

"Go ahead and shoot me!" Andy screamed again.

"Mac!"

Mac's hands were shaking and he could not pull the trigger, but he realized that voice was different. "Mac! Don't!"

Mac realized someone was standing beside him. "Mac, it's over," Don said in his ear. He put his arm around Mac and took the gun out of his hand. "It's over, Mac."

Mac looked around him and felt like he had been holding his breath or that he had been somewhere else. "Get me out of here," he said.

Don was relieved. "Come on," he said. He could feel Mac trembling as they were walking out of the hotel room.

"You're still a coward!" Andy screamed as he was being arrested.

"Shut up!" Don yelled. "You don't know what a hero is!"

Don walked Mac outside as Mac had his arms folded and was trembling as though he were shivering. Don got him over to the car and Mac almost collapsed. "Hey!" Don said. "Get in the car here."

"Mac!" someone yelled.

Mac and Don looked around to see Reed coming that way. Don had never seen Mac cry but he was seeing it now as Reed ran to Mac and they embraced. Don looked toward the hotel room where they were bringing Andy Bedford out. He would like to get hold of that guy himself.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in this," Mac said.

"It wasn't your fault," Reed replied. He looked at Mac. "You alright?"

Mac nodded. "I will be," he said and took a deep breath. He was still shaking but he wanted to forget this situation. He had wanted to kill Andy and he had never "wanted" to kill anyone in his life until tonight. He did not like that feeling. He had seen plenty of times that he wanted to beat the tar out of some people but he had never wanted to kill them.

"Come on, Mac, let's get you out of here," Don said and put his arm around Mac.

"I'll go with you," Reed said.

They got Mac into the back seat and Reed got in too. Don got in the front to drive. Mac felt like he was freezing but he thought part of it was his nerves. That was what Andy had done…he worked on his nerves until he had him on edge and then he attacked.

Don turned the heat on because he felt a little cold himself. He had never seen such a situation. He did not understand how Mac had gotten Reed out of that or himself either. He had expected to see him dead or at least wounded. He wondered if Andy really wanted to kill Mac or if he just wanted to rattle him. Either way, he was on his way back to jail.

"He has my weapons in there," Mac said still shivering.

"I'll get them," Don replied. "You just relax."

Don got out of the car and went back to the hotel room. Reed looked at Mac. "I heard about what's been going on," Reed said. "I'm sorry I didn't call you."

"It's alright," Mac said as he was still trying to stop shivering.

Reed had never seen Mac like this. He had his arms folded, but more than that. He seemed to be withdrawn like he was trying to hide. Reed did not know what to say. Mac had always been so strong and unwilling to share his feelings with anyone. "Mac," he said.

Mac looked at him. "I'm okay," he said.

"You don't look okay."

"I will be."

Don soon came back to the car with Mac's weapons. "Did you use these?" he asked.

Mac shook his head. "He took them while we were at the other place," he said.

Don offered the guns to Mac, but he just stared at them and then looked out the window. Don kept the weapons up in the front with him. "Are we going to the ER?" he asked. He had seen Reed's busted lip and some bruises and he had seen Mac's reaction to the situation.

"No," Mac said. "I don't want in another hospital."

"Where to then?"

"I want to go home."

"You got a ticket back home?"

"No, I don't want to go on a plane."

"Mac, that's a long drive and…"

"I don't care, Don. I want to go home."

Don cranked the car and headed out. He supposed he would just have to do what Mac wanted since he seemed to be relentless about it. He did not want him to try and drive himself there. Don's phone rang and he answered it.

"Don, what is going on?" Jo asked.

"It's over," Don replied. "We're heading out to come back to New York."

"Already?"

"Mac wants to come home. We're driving there."

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later. We'll be there in…oh, a few hours."

"Be careful, Don."

"I will."

Don put his phone away and headed out from the stop sign he was sitting at. "So, Mac, are you hungry?" Don asked. "You must know some good places here to eat at."

Mac just stared out the window. Reed looked at him and then looked at the rear-view mirror where he could see Don's eyes. "I'm hungry," he said. "There's a restaurant down here that sells great pizza."

"Pizza," Don said. "Sounds good to me."

Don stopped at the restaurant and parked. He looked at Mac. "You want anything?" he asked.

Mac would not answer. Don looked at Reed. "How about I just order a supreme and we'll get out of here?" he asked.

"Sure," Reed replied. "I'll stay here."

"I'll be right back."

Don got out and went into the restaurant. He knew this was going to be a long night of driving so he was going to get some coffee too. He had to take Mac home, however, because he was afraid if he did not, Mac would try to go himself and he did not think Mac was in any shape to drive. He just hoped he did not fall asleep driving…


	24. Chapter 24

Don got the pizza and two drinks and went back to the car. It had taken about 15 minutes. Reed's mouth watered when he smelled it. "Wow, that smells good, "he said.

"I'm starving," Don said. He looked at Mac who was lying over in the seat.

"He's exhausted, and he's not well."

"I know. He hasn't really recovered from all that other. Maybe he can now."

Don took a slice of the pizza out and passed the box back to Reed. While they were eating, Mac started to snore. "Well, I guess it's not going to be a quiet ride home," Don remarked.

"You never know whether somebody snores or not because they don't know until someone hears it."

"He's probably doing that because he's sick. I think everybody snores when they're sick."

"Probably."

After Don ate his slice of pizza, he cranked up the car and headed out. "Well, this is going to be a long night," he said.

"You know, he probably wouldn't know it if we got him out of this car and put him in a bed in a hotel room," Reed said.

"You think? I'll bet he would. He was pretty insistent about going home."

"Looks like he would be more comfortable in a bed."

"I think he just wants to go home because he doesn't want to be around other people. I assume that's why he didn't want to get on a cramped plane."

"So how long are you going to drive before you let me drive?" Reed asked.

"Until my eyes start crossing and seeing things."

Reed smiled. "Don't fall asleep driving."

"I don't intend to. I'm going to get myself some coffee."

"This is going to take a while. It's a long way to New York."

"Yeah, it is. He can't lay back there the whole time. It will take at least twelve hours to get to New York."

"So you drive six hours and I will drive six hours."

"Deal."

Reed wiped some pizza sauce off his mouth. "Wow, that burns," he said as the sauce was burning his busted lip. "Have you ever driven from New York to Chicago?"

"No, I prefer to fly myself if I have to go this far."

"Me too but I don't go to Chicago very often anymore. I work a lot."

"Work, work, work. It only gets worse."

As Don was driving, Reed lay his head back on the seat to try and get some sleep. After about two hours, Don had to stop at a gas station to go to the bathroom and get something else to drink. "I hope they have coffee in there," he said. "Wake Mac up and see if he needs to go."

Reed shook Mac's shoulder. "Hey, do you need to do anything while we're stopped here?" he asked.

Mac sat up and looked at Reed. "What?" he asked.

"We had to make a pit stop. You need anything?"

Mac seemed to be confused. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Uhm, we're about two hours from Chicago in Indiana somewhere. Don had to take a leak."

"I'm sorry." Mac lay back over on the seat.

Reed thought Mac did not know what was going on now. He had never seen him like he was after that run-in with Andy Bedford. He had been shaking all over and seemed to be a little disoriented. He supposed it was from the situation and all he had already been through too. He supposed he would be wanting to sleep too if he had been through all that. He had wondered for a while if he was going to survive himself. When Andy Bedford had come to his apartment, he had been disguised as a plumber. He had been having some trouble with plumbing and Andy had claimed to be hired by the landlord to fix it. He had let him in, only to find out that he was the guy who had been stalking Mac. They had struggled, but Andy had given him a sedative. He had woke up in a car bound and gagged. He had not really known what was going on until he heard Andy calling Mac. He knew then that he was just bait to lure Mac in. He had hoped that Mac would not come over there but he knew he would. Mac would not let someone suffer on his account.

Don came back and Reed got out of the car. "I didn't want to leave him alone out here," he said.

"That's fine," Don replied as he was stretching. "I need to stretch some more anyway. It's not easy being couped up in a car when you're tall."

"Tell me about it."

Don looked in the back seat at Mac. He wished they had a van rented so maybe they could make him more comfortable but he was certainly sleeping. He did not know what all had gone on in that hotel room yet but he was sure Mac would tell them when he got ready. He wondered if Mac would have shot Andy if he had not arrived. He remembered how Mac's hand was shaking. It had been a very tense situation. He remembered standing over that guy…he wanted to think that Mac would not have killed Andy, but he did not know. He did not think Mac was really seeing what was really going on. He seemed to be somewhere else. Don just wanted to get him home and back to the doctor to finish his treatment. He could not help but notice that rash.

When Reed came from the gas station, they headed out again. "Hey, Mac," he said and shook Mac.

Mac was startled and sat up but then he realized he was in the car. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked.

"About two hours," Reed replied. "You want some pizza or chips?"

Mac considered that. "No, thanks." He felt so tired and…nervous. He did not remember ever feeling this nervous. He folded his arms and tried to stay awake.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. How long will it be before we get home?"

"About twelve hours," Don said.

"Twelve?"

"Yeah. We'll be there around eleven in the morning…although it will be Noon in New York."

That seemed to make Mac even more nervous. He felt trapped. "Hey, why don't you drink some of this soda?" Reed asked. "Maybe it will make you feel better." He pulled one of the drinks off the bunch and offered it to Mac.

Mac looked at it a moment and then took it. "I'm sorry I got you all into this," he said.

"Mac, you didn't get me into this," Reed said. "You had nothing to do with that."

Mac rubbed his face and his head. "I don't know what I'm saying. I think I need some air."

"We can stop again," Don said. "There are plenty of gas stations along this interstate."

Don found another station and pulled in. Don and Reed got out and then Mac got out. His legs felt weak. He did not know if it was from all the exertion he had been through or if it was because he had been so sick and wounded too. "You alright?" Don asked.

"No, I'm not alright," Mac said finally. He looked around them. "Don, I need out of here."

"Mac, we're taking you home. It's going to take time to get there."

"I don't know why I feel so nervous."

Don thought he would be shaking in his shoes too but he was not sure what to do. "You want to get something to eat or walk around a little?"

"I need to get a grip."

Mac took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at Don and Reed. He felt embarrassed to be nervous. He was not in danger now. He looked at his hands which still had the gloves on them. They felt sore and itchy. He finally just frowned. He did not know what to say or what he wanted to do. He felt like he was lost. "I think I'll go to the bathroom," he said.

Don and Reed followed him into the store. Mac went into the bathroom. "He's not doing well," Reed said.

"I know but we're not doctors," Don said. "I don't know what to do. I'm sure he doesn't want to go to a hospital out here."

"Probably not."

"I know this is not easy for him. Let's just try to act as normal as possible…like not standing here like this waiting on him."

"Right."

Don went back to the drink box to see what they had. He got a fruit drink from the box and then grabbed a bag of chips. He thought he was going to have to spend extra time at the gym if he ate like this all the way home. He could not believe he had to drive that long. He kinda liked road trips, but this was not a vacation and with Mac being sick, it was not any fun.

Mac was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom. He looked in the mirror. He thought he looked tired himself. He did not know if he was tired because of everything that had happened, because it was over, or because he had been sick. He thought it might be a combination of all of that. He left the bathroom and wondered if he wanted anything to drink. He thought he probably needed something. He went to the drink box and looked in at the selection. He was not sure what he wanted. He just got himself a soda and a bottle of water and then he grabbed a bag of chips and a pack of peanuts.

Don was just coming up to the register when Mac walked up there. "You getting hungry?" Don asked as he saw all the stuff Mac had.

"I guess," Mac replied.

They paid for their stuff and went back to the car. Mac looked at his hands and wished he could get the gloves off but he was not sure he could get all that off on his own…at least not so it would not be uncomfortable all the way home. He would just have to wait until he got there.

Don cranked up and they headed out again. "So, what are you planning to do when we get home?" he asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I want to get well first and then I want to go on a vacation."

"I don't blame you. Where you going?"

"I don't know. Somewhere quiet."

"I think I would like to go on a long fishing trip."

Mac shivered at the thought of that. "Not this time of year," he said. "I want to be somewhere warm."

"Florida?"

"I don't know."

"You can always fish in Florida."

"I don't want to fish. I think I want to rent me a cabin in the Smoky Mountains and sit by a warm fire while I watch it snow outside."

"That sounds pretty good, but what else are you going to do?"

"Absolutely nothing except maybe read a book."

By the time they got back to New York, they were all tired of riding but they had drunk enough soda and coffee that they were wide awake and talking and laughing. Even Mac could not help but chuckle at the jokes Don was telling. He did not really feel like laughing much but he had to admit, Don was a joker. He had even told of all kinds of cases he had been on and the kinds of people he had met. Don had plenty of stories to tell. He was in the back seat now and Reed was driving.

Mac looked out the window as they were entering the city. He did not know what he would do when he got out of this car. He still felt nervous and he knew he needed to go back to the doctor with his rash. It had popped out all over him and it itched. "Take me back to the hospital," he said.

Don looked at him. "You alright?" he asked.

"I need more medicine for this rash."

"Okay."

Reed drove to the hospital. "I'll go in with him, Don," he said. "It's been fun."

Don smiled as he got back in the car. "Sure has," he said.

Mac and Reed went into the hospital. Mac felt slightly better but he still felt a little nervous and…he did not know what else. He just did not feel like himself. He remembered how he had felt when he was standing there over Andy and he did not like that. He thought that was what made him the most nervous…he had "wanted" to kill Andy. He had wanted to end his terror and assure himself that it would not happen again. He folded his arms as he thought of that. It made him feel cold.

Mac went into the hospital and told them that he had left early and that he needed more treatment. He would have to go through the whole process again but they would not keep him in the hospital this time. He got four shots and three bottles of medicine. Mac frowned as he dropped the medicines off at the pharmacy. He hated taking medicines. He was already taking medicines for his fingernails and feet. His feet were well now though. He was taking antibiotics and medicines to help his nails grow back. He knew that would be a long process.

"You gonna wait on them?" Reed asked.

"No," Mac said. "I don't have to take them till morning. I'll get them then." He yawned. "Besides, I'm sleepy."

"I'm a little tired myself. It was a long drive."

Mac looked at Reed. "Let's have lunch sometime."

Reed nodded. "Thanks for coming after me. I know it couldn't have been easy for you."

"The decision was easy. I would do it again."

Reed hugged Mac. "Take care of yourself."

"You too."

Mac got a cab and went home. The shots they had given him were definitely making him sleepy. He took his jacket off and hung it on the coat rack and went to his bedroom. He wanted a shower. They had unwrapped his hands at the hospital and had wrapped them in fresh gauze, but he had to have a shower anyway. He unwrapped them and took a hot shower. Then he got into bed.

Just as he was about to relax, his phone rang. He groaned as he reached for the phone. "Hello," he answered.

"Mac, how are you?" Jo asked.

"Sleepy."

"Is everything okay?"

"Right now it is. Why?"

"Just wondering. I know this situation must have been hard on you."

"I'll be alright, Jo."

"Well, if you need anything, just call me."

"Thanks."

Mac put his phone back on the table and lay down again. He stared at the ceiling. He had felt incredibly nervous after all that was over. He thought maybe it was just because of the tenseness of the moment. Don and Reed had helped him to calm down while they were on their way home. They were good friends and he knew they intended to help him even when he always wanted to keep everything to himself. However, he could not hide that nervousness. It had been severe and he had been shaking all over. He still felt that way a little but he was glad to be home and he hoped he could go to work tomorrow. He had been at work the day Andy sent that donut to him. He wondered if that guy was finished. What if he had people out there somewhere who would do things for him? Mac shook his head. He could not live in fear like that but he could not help but think of it. He had people who had helped him with his other plans. Mac turned over on his side and looked out the window. He had to get a grip. He would not let that guy torture him anymore…especially when he was locked away. He wanted to make sure he was locked away. He would check on that in the morning…


End file.
